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DISSERTATION, 



HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL, 



ON THE 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, 



BY 



JOHN JACKSON. 








PHILADELPHIA: 
T. ELLWOOD CHAPMAN, 

No. 1 SOUTH FIFTH STREET. 
18 55. 



n 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 

JOHN JACKSON, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and for the 
Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

STEEEOTTPED BY J. FAGAX 



The Library 
of Congress 

washington 

wmmmmm—mmmmmmmmmmmaw 



PHILADELPHIA : 
KING k BAIRD, PRINTERS, 

No. 9 Sansom Street. 



CONTENTS 



Introduction page 5 

CHAPTER I. 
The Ministry of Jesus and the Apostles « 7 

CHAPTER II. 

The Christian Ministry from the Time of the Apostles to the 

Reformation 18 

CHAPTER III. 
The Christian Ministry since the Reformation 37 

CHAPTER IV. 
Woman's Preaching 47 

CHAPTER V. 

The Christian Ministry, a Free Ministry — Legal Provision — 
Voluntary Payment — Objections to a Theological Education 
for the Ministry 56 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Bible and the Ministry 78 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Ministry, and the Dogmas of the Church 102 

Conclusion 118 

(iii) 



INTRODUCTION. 



The writer of the following Essay has endeavored to 
show the character of the Christian ministry as exem- 
plified by Jesus and the Apostles, and to point out 
some of the corruptions which Christianity has sus- 
tained by a perversion of its original objects. 

He wishes, especially, to call attention to the histo- 
rical fact, that a maintenance of the clergy was a de- 
parture from Christian doctrine and practice, made 
after the time of the Apostles, by a mercenary priest- 
hood ; and has, under all its various forms, been inju- 
rious to the cause of religion and the general interests 
of mankind. It led the Church of Eome into all the 
pride and voluptuousness which made her, prior to the 
Keformation, a by-word and a reproach. It was un- 
wisely incorporated with the principles of that great 
ecclesiastical revolution; and notwithstanding it has 
been retained in the religious systems of most Christian 
sects, it is, nevertheless, without sanction or authority 
in the practice of the early Christian believers. 

(5) 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

The ministry of the gospel is the work of the Lord, 
deriving its authority and ability from the revelation 
of truth to the soul — the free gift of the Holy Spirit, 
and ought to be exercised in compliance with the in- 
junction, " Freely ye have received, freely give." 

The writer has no object in view but the common 
good of mankind, and believing that the Christian 
ministry tends to promote this end, he wishes to see 
such reforms take place, by universal consent, as will 
restore it to the original foundation. He believes this 
can be best done by taking away all the temporal 
profits and emoluments attached to the calling, and 
making it wholly a labor of love, to be performed by 
individuals, under a conviction of religious duty, with- 
out the authority or by the appointment of man. 

Darby, Pa., Second Month, 1855. 



DISSERTATION 

ON THE 

CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 



CHAPTER I. 

THE MINISTRY OF JESUS ASD THE APOSTLES. 

When the blessed Jesus entered on his mission of 
love and righteousness, the great object of his ministry 
was to proclaim the truth, and to point out the way 
of life and salvation to others. He was a messenger 
of glad tidings, who openly declared : u I do nothing of 
myself; but as my Father hath taught me. I speak 
these things." When near the close of his work, he 
made this declaration to Pilate with regard to himself: 
•'•' To this end was I born, and for this cause came I 
into the world, that I should bear witness unto the 
truth." 

The Scripture records furnish the most unequivocal 
testimony to his spotless life, the purity of his exam- 
ple, the benevolence of his spirit, his disinterested love 
to man, and his obedience to the will of his heavenly 
Father. The precepts he delivered reveal a wisdom 
that is not of earth, but of heaven. His teaching un- 
folds the character of a ministry bearing the evidence 
of its divine authoritv, and pro vine, with the clearness 



8 DISSERTATION ON THE 

of a moral demonstration, that he was influenced by 
love to God and love to man. 

That he sought not the praise of men, nor the glory 
of this world, is apparent from the humility which 
accompanied him, and the fearlessness with which he 
exposed popular errors and traditions, which had 
acquired a spurious sanctity, chiefly in consequence of 
their antiquity. 

The Scribes and Pharisees clung with peculiar tena- 
city to the errors against which Jesus inveighed at 
every opportunity. They looked upon his preaching 
as an intolerable innovation, which would, if left un- 
opposed, entirely overthrow their schemes of self-right- 
eousness, and lessen their ecclesiastical power and 
influence. 

They sought to ensnare him on every hand ; accused 
him of violating their law, of being a blasphemer and 
having a devil; and finally they consulted together 
and came to the conclusion, " If we let him alone, all 
men will believe on him ; and the Romans shall come, 
and take away both our place and nation." 

The opposition to his ministry, from the high pro- 
fessors, was as blind and bigoted in its origin as it was 
cruel and vindictive in its end. 

But he was faithful to his mission ; and the same 
spirit of love and compassion, of mercy and kindness, 
of gentleness and humility, of patience and forgiveness, 
which led him to commiserate human nature under all 
its probations, inspired him, even when crowned with 
thorns, to pray for his enemies, " Father, forgive them ; 
for they know not what they do." 

He openly and publicly proclaimed the great truth, 
that the gospel put an end to all distinction between 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 9 

Jew and Gentile, and that, without reference to time, 
place, or outward ceremony, the Deity is to be wor- 
shipped in purity of spirit and in truth. 

Jesus was a preacher of practical righteousness. 
Instead of giving his disciples a creed, or any formula 
of absolute doctrine, he spoke after this manner : 

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the 
kingdom of heaven. 

"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be 
comforted. 

" Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the 
earth. 

" Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after 
righteousness : for they shall be filled. 

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain 
mercy. 

" Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see 
God. 

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be 
called the children of God. 

" Blessed are they which are persecuted for right- 
eousness' sake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 

He taught his disciples that they were the " salt of 
the earth" and " the light of the world," and exhorted 
them, " Let your light so shine before men, that they 
may see your good works and glorify your Father 
which is in heaven." 

He pointed out the distinction between practical 
religion and ceremonial observances, by showing that 
the former consisted in performing "the weightier 
matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith." 
" Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall 



10 DISSERTATION ON THE 

enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth 
the will of my Father which is in heaven." 

He forbade swearing and the use of an oath on all 
occasions. "Let your communication be Yea, yea; 
Nay, nay : for whatsoever is more than these cometh 
of evil." 

He exposed the error of the popular doctrine of an 
eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth ; and strictly 
prohibited any retaliation or revenge. 

The people to whom he spoke had been taught to 
hate their enemies; but he rebuked this practice in 
this manner : — "I say unto you, Love your enemies, 
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate 
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, 
and persecute you ; that ye may be the children of 
your Father which is in heaven : for he maketh his 
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth 
rain on the just and on the unjust." 

In these precepts, all persecution, oppression, wars 
and fightings are plainly prohibited; for, without a 
direct precept for every particular evil, the principles 
he laid down could leave none untouched. The prac- 
tice of war proceeds from the indulgence of the very 
lusts and passions which are here positively, and 
without reservation, prohibited in the command, 
" Love your enemies !" 

The religion taught by Jesus is distinguished by the 
importance it attaches to the exercise of the principle 
of love. It is made the ruling principle of human 
conduct. The moral law is comprehended in the pre- 
cept, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love 
worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the 
fulfilling of the law." Jesus made this the test of 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 11 

the validity of our claim to the Christian character. 
" By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 
if ye have love one unto another." The intention 
of Christianity is to perfect our union with God. 
Hence this emphatic language is employed : " God is 
love ; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, 
and God in him." 

It is one of the striking beauties of the Christian 
religion, that it furnishes us with so bright an example, 
in the character of Jesus, of what may be achieved 
when the human will becomes entirely subservient to 
the Divine. By precept and example, he taught a 
religion adapted to the wants of mankind. With him 
it was not a system of opinions, but a work of benevo- 
lence. He went about doing good worlcs. In the pa- 
rable of the good Samaritan, he showed that the term 
brother, as used in the gospel, applies to all mankind. 
He laid down this general rule, universally applicable 
to every question of duty connected with the inter- 
course of man with man : " Whatsoever ye would that 
men should do unto you, do ye even so to them." 

In the parable of the distribution of talents, he 
pointed out the duty of mental and spiritual culture as 
a part of the religion he taught. 

He laid down the principle upon which all men shall 
be judged before that tribunal from whose decisions 
there can be no appeal, in this plain manner : " Come 
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
for you from the foundation of the world : For I was 
an hungered and ye gave me meat : I was thirsty 
and ye gave me drink : I was a stranger and ye took 
me in : Naked and ye clothed me : I was sick 
and ye visited me : I was in prison and ye came unto 



12 DISSERTATION ON THE 

me." Or, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of 
the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto 
me." 

He taught in the parable of the prodigal son, with 
beautiful simplicity, the whole doctrine of redemption 
and reconciliation with God, without the intervention 
of a vicarious atonement. 

But the most striking feature of the ministry of 
Jesus consisted in the fact that he directed the atten- 
tion of his hearers to the teaching of the spirit of truth 
in their own minds. He enforced the necessity of obe- 
dience to this inward monitor by a series of instructive 
parables, and directly alluded to it by plain and posi- 
tive precepts. It is comprehended in the saying, 
" The kingdom of God is within you." It is referred 
to, beyond all question, in one of those memorable 
interviews he had with his disciples towards the close 
of his mission, not only as a sufficient teacher to guide 
them, but as a teacher that would lead them still 
farther in the path in which he had taught them to 
walk. " It is expedient for you that I go away. For 
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; 
but if I depart, I will send him unto you." John xvi. 7. 
" I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another 
Comforter, that he may abide with you forever : Even 
the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, 
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him ; but 
ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be 
in you." John xiv. 16, 17. "I have many things to 
say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit 
when he the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you 
into all truth," &c. John xvi. 12, 13. From which we 
derive the plain inference that the object of his outward 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 13 

ministry was the perfection of the inward life by obe- 
dience to "the manifestations of the spirit given to 
every man to profit withal." 1 Cor. xii. 7. " The true 
light which lighteth every man that cometh into the 
world." John i. 9. 

He inculcated, both by precept and example, the 
doctrine of obedience to the Divine will; and in conse- 
quence of his obedience, in him was verified the saying, 
"Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. 
Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with 
the oil of gladness above thy fellows." 

The great moral power which Jesus employed in 
fulfilling his mission, was elaborated through his obe- 
dience to the will of his heavenly Father, and his 
unwavering faith in the inward illumination of the 
Holy Spirit. This he openly avowed on various occa- 
sions : " Yerily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do 
nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do. 
For what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the 
Son likewise." John vi. 19. "I have many things to 
say, and to judge of you; but he that sent me is true; 
and IspeaJc to the world those things which I have heard 
of Him" John viii. 26. "My meat is to do the will 
of him that sent me, and to finish his work." John iv. 
34. And other texts of like import. 

As Jesus depended upon the immediate illumination 
of the Divine will to do the work of his ministry, he 
recommended his disciples not to engage in a similar 
work until they also were "endued with power from on 
high" Luke xxiv. 49. This he declared they would 
receive, and he no where intimated that the time would 
ever come when the servants of God would be deprived 
of the immediate aid and inspiration of the same Holy 



14 DISSERTATION ON THE 

Spirit by which he was enlightened, and enabled to 
speak, as "one having authority, and not as the 
Scribes." Matt. vii. 29. 

The ministry of the apostles was characterized by 
the same inspiration which distinguished the preaching 
of Jesus. Following his example, they held up the 
same ideas of practical religion. " Pure religion, and 
undefiled before God and the Father, is this, to visit 
the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to 
keep himself unspotted from the world." James i. 27. 

They recommended the believers to " add to your 
faith, virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; and to know- 
ledge, temperance ; and to temperance, patience ; and 
to patience, godliness ; and to godliness, brotherly kind- 
ness; and to brotherly kindness, charity." 2 Peter i. 
5-7. They made religion consist in "whatsoever 
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatso- 
ever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, what- 
soever things are lovely, and whatsoever things are of 
good report." Phil. iv. 8. "Above all things, put on 
charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Col. hi. 14. 
" Abstain from all appearance of evil." 1 Thess. v. 22. 
But these texts, indiscriminately taken from the 
writings of the apostles, are not a tithe of what we 
might select to show that they made religion consist 
in the simplicity of being good, and doing good. They 
preached a religion so pure, so holy, so plain, that it 
required only to be seen to be loved, and needed 
nothing to understand it, but the science of self-culture 
and the philosophy of common sense. 

It will not be denied that it was a Divine inspiration 
which enabled the apostles to become ministers of the 
gospel of Christ. The value of their ministry depended 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 15 

on their speaking only of things which their eyes had 
seen, and their hands handled, of the good word of 
life; and they commended others to the same source 
and fountain of spiritual instruction. " Let the word of 
Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." Col. iii. 16. 
" If any of you lack vnsdom, let him ash of God, that 
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not : and 
it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, 
nothing wavering." James i. 5, 6. " The anointing 
which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye 
need not that any man teach you ; but as the same 
anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and 
is no lie ; and even as it hath taught you, ye shall 
abide in him." 1 John ii. 27. "Know ye not that your 
body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, 
which ye have of God." 1 Cor. vi. 19. "God hath 
sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts." Gal. 
iv. 6. " Christ in you the hope of glory ! Whom we 
preach warning every man, and teaching every man in 
all wisdom ; that we may present every man perfect 
in Christ Jesus." Col. i. 28. "Know ye not your own 
selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be 
reprobates." 2 Cor. viii. 5. " The word is nigh thee, 
even in thy mouth, and in thy heart : that is the ivord 
of faith we preach." Kom. x. 8. "The grace of God, 
which bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all 
men." 

We cannot conceive how language could be employed 
to express with greater clearness this cardinal doctrine 
of the Christian religion: "The manifestation of the 
spirit is given to every man to profit withal." If it 
then be admitted that, in exercising the functions of 
the Christian ministry, Jesus and the apostles were 



16 DISSERTATION ON THE 

divinely inspired, and commended others to the same 
inspiration which had enlightened their own under- 
standings, we shall contend that this inspiration was 
by no means peculiar to them, but that it has existed 
in every age, and still continues to be the " true light 
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world ;" 
and therefore it is the duty of the Christian minister 
to hold it up as the highest oracle of truth to the human 
soul. 

"We assert unequivocally, without concealment and 
without compromise, our adherence to this doctrine of 
the inner light. We maintain that the inspiration of 
Jesus, and all other holy men of old, was in no respect 
different in principle, and in no case more divine, than 
the same inspiration which now teaches us to " deny 
all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, 
and righteously, and godly, in this present world." 

"We are not satisfied merely with the admission that 
God has immediately communicated light and know- 
ledge to a few individuals in days that are past. Yv r e 
claim that Divine Grace is universal, and that the 
Creator of a world of intelligent beings imparts light 
and knowledge to every soul, made answerable for its 
conduct in a state of probation, in a degree sufficient for 
its salvation. 

" The degree of light may vary according as one 
man has a greater measure of it than another. But 
the light of an apostle is not one thing, and the light 
of the heathen another thing, distinct in principle. 
They differ only in degree of power, distinctness, and 
splendor of manifestation." Hancock's Essay on In- 
stinct. 

We renounce every system of theology in which an 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 17 

immediate revelation of the will of God sufficient for 
our guidance in life is not placed in the foreground, 
and regarded as a fundamental principle. We reject 
every plan of human salvation which does not ascribe 
our preservation from sin to an obedience to the " in- 
spiration of the Almighty." Eejecting this spiritual 
illumination, which is common to all, man is left to 
grope his way in darkness, a stranger on the road upon 
w r hich he is travelling, and ignorant of the destiny that 
awaits him at the end of his journey. 

Jesus recognized this principle — it was the corner- 
stone of his religious fabric. He touched this chord, 
and it vibrated throughout the soul — awoke it to the 
contemplation of its high endowments and immortal 
nature. With him, itw T as "life eternal" already begun 
"to know" this " Emanuel, God with us." What others 
had in vain sought for in the outward ritual, the tradi- 
tions of men, the, reasonings of the metaphysicians, 
and the speculations of philosophy, as a guide for the 
soul, Jesus looked for, and found it in the soul itself. 
The reputed son of an obscure carpenter — born in an age 
of peculiar wickedness — among a people proverbial for 
their self-righteousness and self-conceit — a people en- 
trammelled by the traditions of their law, and prejudiced 
to the last degree against any innovations upon esta- 
blished customs, he came forth as a truthful instru- 
ment to turn many to righteousness. He demanded 
reformations which the Pharisee and the hypocrite 
had not seen to be needful, and would not bear with- 
out resistance. He appealed to the inner life — taught 
that the kingdom of heaven was within — made reli- 
gion consist in obedience to God and love to man, and 
exhibited to the world the highest type of humanity. 
2 



18 DISSERTATION ON THE 

Let others walk by the same rule, and mind the same 
thing, and they will become the anointed and saved 
of the Lord ; for " as many as are led by the Spirit of 
God are the sons of God." In him we have " the per- 
fect and the upright man" fairly represented ; we select 
his example as worthy of imitation, and for the pur- 
pose of defining the requirements of Christianity and 
the character of its ministry. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY FROM THE TIME OF THE APOSTLES 
TO THE REFORMATION. 

Christianity, as exemplified in the life and teaching 
of Jesus, is a plain and simple thing — a divine reality. 
Its perfect adaptation to the moral nature of man 
proves the divinity of its origin and the benevolence 
of its object. Under its benign influence, kindred 
minds assimilate in spiritual fellowship for their mutual 
good. Requiring no other bond of union than love for 
one another, they form our ideal of a Church, in which 
the divine spirit of Christianity shall find its highest 
development — its members enjoy the greatest good, 
and realize the greatest unity. 

The ministry of Jesus and the apostles was instru- 
mental in gathering such a visible Church, but they 
did not think it necessary to give it any peculiar out- 
ward organization. The}^ did not condense into a 
written form any systematic articles of faith for its 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 19 

members, nor prescribe any absolute system of Church 
government. As new converts were made to the 
gospel in the apostolic times, and the believers met 
together for their mutual edification, such forms of 
organization and discipline were adopted as the cir- 
cumstances of the respective cases required. That 
these forms differed among the various associations of 
Christians is plain, from an inspection of the apostolic 
writings. (See Acts xv., and Gal. ii.) Paul, Peter, 
and James had different views of Church discipline, 
and the prejudices of each in favor of his peculiar form 
not unfrequently manifested itself, though not in such 
a manner as to disturb their general harmonious 
action, because they allowed to one another the full 
liberty of the gospel, and regarded charity as the 
greatest of the Christian virtues. Nor was it necessary 
for Jesus or the apostles to give any outward form of 
organization to this Church, or to plan a creed for its 
guidance. 

Christianity is to the world of mind what the spirit 
that moved on the face of the waters was to the world 
of matter, when in the infancy of the outward creation, 
" the earth was without form and void, and darkness 
dwelt upon the face of the deep." When life was 
commanded to appear, it came forth upon our planet, 
and appropriated to itself such material forms as were 
best suited to its development, and the establishment 
of order in the animal kingdom. But it was by no 
means necessary to the continued existence of animal 
life, that the same organisms should be retained and 
reproduced. On the contrary, the physical history of 
the globe on which we dwell reveals to us, through the 
light of Geology, the wonderful but incontrovertible 



20 DISSERTATION ON THE 

fact, that although animal life has not failed to exist, 
very many of the. forms and organisms under which it 
was once developed have ceased to have a living repre- 
sentative. In the solid strata of the earth we find the 
petrified forms in which the tenants of the globe once 
lived, and moved, and had their being, but they have 
long since perished. These were suited to their pecu- 
liar eras, and ceased to be, when other forms were 
more favorable to perfect the grand economy of 
nature. 

So it is with the Divine life of Christianity, in bring- 
ing the world of mind into harmony and order. It 
expresses itself in the conduct of men, and while it will 
ever appropriate to itself such forms as are best suited 
to its progress, it will lay them aside and assume 
others when they cease to be favorable to its highest 
development. Such was the philosophy of Jesus. 
"What he said of himself will be appropriate language 
of this ideal Church in all ages — ■" a body hast thou 
prepared me." When this shall have answered its 
purpose it will be expedient to replace it with another, 
that the Church may not rest in forms to give it a spi- 
ritual life. 

Theologians have not viewed Christianity and the 
Church in its true light, when they have manifested a 
determined spirit to preserve its life in forms that were 
only suited to the times that are past. Such efforts 
have ever borne their legitimate fruits, and these have 
been schisms, divisions and strife. The " new wine " 
of Christianity could not be kept in the " old bottles " 
which once were suitable to hold it. 

As well might we attempt to breathe new life into 
the petrified remains of animals long since become 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 21 

extinct, as to hope for the full development of Chris- 
tianity within past circumscribed bounds. 

When the early Christian believers met in religious 
communion, they observed the beautiful equality of the 
gospel set forth in the saying, " One is your master, 
even Christ, and all ye are brethren ;" and in relation 
to the ministry, the doctrine was broadly laid down, 
that every one was at liberty to exercise his or her 
particular gift to the common edification. It needed 
no ordination or appointment of men, for there was 
not, in the time of the apostles, any body of men who 
were authorized to exercise the functions of Christian 
ministers exclusively, and, by successive ordinations 
among themselves, to preserve such an institution 
throughout all generations of Christians. It is clear, 
from Paul's own acts and words, that he did not recog- 
nise any such ecclesiastical body, as is generally sup- 
posed to have been in existence, at this period in the 
Christian church. 

" But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which 
is preached of me is not after man : for I neither 
received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the 
revelation of Jesus Christ." "Neither went I up to Je- 
rusalem to them which were apostles before me : But I 
went unto Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. 
Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem, to see 
Peter, and abode w T ith him fifteen days. But other 
of the apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's 
brother." Gal. i. 11, 12, 17-19. 

The primary meetings of the early Christians were 
independent with respect to one another, and were 
composed of those, who embraced the gospel upon con- 
viction more than upon authority. They adopted 



22 DISSERTATION ON THE 

such forms and regulations as suited the circumstances 
under which they were placed. 

Uniting together in the feeling of love, for the pur- 
pose of strengthening one another in the path of 
virtue — for visiting the sick, supplying the necessities 
of the poor, and to perform the duties which the be- 
nevolence of the gospel required, they needed no 
formal creed to serve as a bond of their union. 

What is called " The Apostles' Creed," and generally 
considered as their production, was not written for 
some centuries after the apostolic age ; and, from the 
testimony of ecclesiastical writers, it was not written 
all at once, but from small beginnings was occasionally 
augmented, in proportion as opinions, supposed to be 
heretical, were from time to time promulgated. (See 
Mosh. Eccl. History; Bingham's Antiquities of the 
Christian Church ; SchafFs xipostolic Church.) 

Christianity, however, began to be corrupted as early 
as the time of the apostles ; — in some instances by an 
admixture of Judaism, and in other cases by blending 
its simple teachings with the Oriental philosophy. 
Hence, Paul says to the Colossians, "Beware lest any 
man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, 
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the 
world, and not after Christ." 

Again, there were others who attempted to deprive 
the brethren of their Christian liberty, by assuming 
that they were eminent ministers and authoritative 
teachers. An instance of which is alluded to in the 
3d Epistle of John : — " I wrote unto the church : but 
Diotrephes, who loveth to have the pre-eminence among 
them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, when I come, I 
will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 23 

against us with malicious words : and not content 
therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, 
and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out 
of the church." 

Thus it seems that some of the first troubles of the 
church were brought about by its ministers ; forgetting 
the humility of the office, — loving to have the pre- 
eminence among their brethren, and assuming to ex- 
ercise an authority over them which does not pertain 
to their high calling. The subsequent history of the 
church has abundantly proved* how often the same 
class, from the same cause, have disturbed its harmony. 

Corruptions thus early introduced soon gained 
ground, and in the second century great mischief was 
done by the introduction of ceremonies and mysteries, as 
they were termed, into the Christian religion. The 
ministers of Christ now began to preach to please men. 
They introduced ceremonies to please the ignorant 
multitude, who were led to imagine that a careful ob- 
servance of these might make amends for the neglect 
of moral duty. Mysteries were introduced to accom- 
modate the taste of the heathen, whose religion con- 
sisted in a multitude of absurdities, of which nobody 
knew the meaning. 

By these, and similar means, the Christian ministry 
became prostituted to the base and dishonourable pur- 
pose, of imposing customs upon the masses of the 
people, which very soon resulted in an abridgement of 
their liberties, in laying the foundation for that system 
of ecclesiastical power which was afterwards organized, 
and for centuries held the world in barbarism and 
slavery. Thus the unity of the church was broken ; 
the simplicity of the Christian system tarnished by 



24 DISSERTATION ON THE 

human traditions, and a door opened to all the evils 
which have retarded its triumphant spread in the 
earth. 

About the middle of the second century, the Gre- 
cian churches, following the political customs of their 
times, began to associate or form all the congregations 
of a province into an ecclesiastical body. This prac- 
tice was soon imitated in other provinces, and from 
this period synods and councils date their origin. The 
general councils, or synods, were composed of delegates 
from the smaller churches, and enacted rules for the 
government of the whole body. These councils 
changed the whole character of the church, and gave 
it new form, for by them the beautiful equality into 
which the gospel led its new converts was soon broken 
up, the ancient privileges of the people were consi- 
derably diminished, and the whole power to rule 
vested in the hands of an irresponsible minority. 
That such power was soon abused, is apparent to every 
reader of church history. The church herself soon 
became an instrument of oppression, and, in the exer- 
cise of her authority, demonstrated that her kingdom 
was wholly of this world. 

" The humility, indeed, and prudence of these pious 
prelates, prevented their assuming all at once the 
power with which they were afterwards invested. At 
their first appearance in these general councils, they 
acknowledged that they were no more than the dele- 
gates of their respective churches, and they acted in 
the name and by the appointment of the people. But 
they soon changed this humble tone, imperceptibly 
extended the limits of their authority, turned their 
influence into dominion, and their counsels into laws, 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 25 

and openly asserted, at length, that Christ had em- 
powered them to prescribe to his people authoritative 
rules of faith and manners? — Mosheim's Church Hist. 
Part II. ch. 2. 

Another instance of the corruption of Christianity 
and the Christian ministry occurred in the third cen- 
tury, when the Bishops and Clergy assumed that they 
constituted a corporation of priests, who were divinely 
commissioned to exercise functions in the Christian 
church analogous to those performed by the priesthood 
among the Jewish people. This comparison between 
the Christian ministry and the Aaronical priesthood is 
so utterly ill-founded, that it becomes apparent upon 
the slightest inspection of the duties required of the 
latter, as set forth in thaOld Testament. 

" The Christian doctors had the good fortune to per- 
suade the people that the ministers of the Christian 
church succeeded to the charter, rights, and privileges 
of the Jewish priesthood ; and this persuasion was a 
new source both of honors and profit to the sacred 
order. This notion was propagated with industry 
some time after the reign of Adrian, when the second 
destruction of Jerusalem had extinguished among the 
Jews all hopes of seeing their government restored to 
its former lustre, and their country rising out of ruins. 
And, accordingly, the Bishops considered themselves 
as invested with a rank and character similar to those 
of the high priests among the Jews, while the presby- 
ters represented the priests, and the deacons the Levites. 
It is, indeed, highly probable that they who first intro- 
duced this absurd comparison of offices, so entirely 
distinct, did it rather through ignorance and error, than 
through artifice or design. The notion, however, once 



26 DISSERTATION ON THE 

entertained, produced its natural effects ; and the effects 
were pernicious." — Mosh. Ch. Hist., Part II. ch. 2. 

The ignorant were deceived by these high preten- 
sions. The power and authority of this self-constituted 
priesthood became greatly augmented in the general 
councils, where they soon not only claimed the right to 
dictate in matters of faith, but soon made another inno- 
vation by demanding a maintenance at the expense of 
the church. 

"In a little time, these titles were abused by an 
aspiring clergy, who thought proper to claim the same 
rank and station, the same rights and privileges, that 
were conferred with those titles upon the ministers of 
religion under the Mosaic dispensation. Hence the 
rise of tithes, first fruits, splendid garments, and many 
other circumstances of external grandeur, by which 
ecclesiastics were eminently distinguished." — Mosh. 
Ch. Hist., Part II. ch. 3. 

The maintenance of the clergy was a corruption of 
Christianity — a pollution of the pure stream of the 
gospel with the practices of ancient Judaism, whether 
introduced at first by well-meaning persons, under a 
belief that it would promote the interests of religion, 
without producing intentional mischief, or whether 
designedly done by an ambitious clergy to add to their 
worldly advantage and power. It is an indisputable 
fact, that an exclusive maintenance of the clergy origi- 
nated long after the time of the Apostles, and mainly 
with the Bishops of the second and third centuries. 
The clergy of that period gradually introduced it into 
their theory of Christianity, until they gained the 
power to enforce it by ecclesiastical and temporal 
authority. 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 27 

It is admitted by Bingham, in his Antiquities of the 
Christian Church, Book V. ch. 4, that tithes were not 
exacted in the Apostolic age, and those that imme- 
diately followed; but that they began to be settled 
upon the church in the fourth century. The clergy 
artfully told the people that a tenth was but a small 
proportion to a Christian. They cited the case of the 
Pharisee, who gave tithes : " I fast twice in the week ; 
I give tithes of all that I possess." And yet Jesus said, 
" Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness 
of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter the 
kingdom of heaven." By making righteousness consist 
in giving tithes, it was easy to make the ignorant 
believe that unless they gave more than the Pharisee, 
they could " not enter the kingdom of heaven." 

Beside tithes and first fruits, the revenues of the 
clergy were derived from a variety of sources. Con- 
stantine enacted a law that any one should have liberty 
to bequeath by will his goods to the church. " By 
which means the liberality of pious persons was very 
much encouraged, and great additions were made to 
the standing revenues of the Church." — Bingham's Ant. 
Christ. Ch., Book V. ch. 4. 

" Besides the liberality of the subjects, the emperors 
of these ages found it necessary to make the clergy an 
allowance out of the public revenues of the empire, 
which was another way of providing a maintenance for 
them." 

" Constantine gave the Bishops unlimited orders to 
demand as much as the needs of the clergy should 
require." — Bingham's Ant. of the Christ. Ch,, Book V. 
ch. 4. 

The contents of heathen temples — the estates of 



28 DISSERTATION ON THE 

clergymen dying without heirs — heretical conventicles 
— lands and churches — the estates of those who 
deserted the church, were claimed by the clergy as a 
part of their lawful revenue. 

And how were these revenues applied ? 

" No sooner had Constantine abolished the supersti- 
tions of his ancestors, than magnificent churches were 
everywhere erected for the Christians, which were 
richly adorned with pictures and images, and bore a 
striking resemblance to the Pagan temples both in their 
outward and inward form." — Mosh. Ch. Hist., Part II. 
ch. 4. 

In order to encourage the opulent to aid in the erection 
of these churches, they were allowed the privilege 
of appointing the ministers that were to officiate in 
them. Here originated what is called the right of 
patronage in the Christian church — a custom long 
before adopted by the heathens in erecting temples to 
their gods, whose protection they conceived they would 
not fail to secure by showing such marks of veneration 
and respect. 

We refer to these historical facts to show that, simul- 
taneously with the general prevalence of the opinion 
that the clergy should be maintained by the church, 
the Christian ministry lost its original simplicity and 
purity! The vices of Christian ministers increased 
until they became of the most flagrant and shameful 
character, and they abandoned themselves to all manner 
of luxury, voluptuousness, avarice, and pride. 1 

" The corruption of an order appointed to promote, 
by doctrine and example, the sacred interests of piety 

1 Mosh. Ch. Hist., Part II. ch. 4. 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 29 

and virtue, "will appear less surprising, when we con- 
sider that multitudes of people were in every country 
admitted, without examination or choice, into the body 
of the clergy, the greatest part of whom had no other 
view than the enjoyment of a lazy and inglorious 
repose." — Moah. Ch. Hist., Part II. ch. 2. 

Nor was it alone in the profligate lives of its minis- 
ters that Christianity suffered a reproach. Its beautiful 
and simple doctrines became tarnished with human 
traditions, and the introduction of several tenets of a 
chimerical philosophy. The Pythagorean and Platonic 
philosophy held it as a maxim that it was not only 
lawful, but meritorious, to deceive, and even to use the 
expedient of a lie, in order to advance the cause of 
truth and piety. It was understood that Pythagoras 
employed deception to reform the morals of the vicious, 
and Plato had intimated that a lie was useful to men 
in the way of a drug; but such a thing was only to be 
intrusted to physicians, and should not be practised by 
private persons. For instance, the governor of a city 
might deceive, and even use a lie. with reference to ene- 
mies or citizens, for the good of the city, though he main- 
tained that all others should abstain from what is false. 

Mosheim, in one of his Dissertations pertaining to 
Ecclesiastical History (vol. i., p. 200). says: " Those 
who from among these philosophers attached them- 
selves to the Christian religion, were so far from aban- 
doning this opinion when they became Christians, that. 
on the contrary, they approved it in word and deed. 
and propagated it more widely than has generally 
been supposed. Hence the early ages were prolific in 
fictitious books, and in the disingenuous arts of con- 
troversy. I would not indeed deny that, under the 



30 DISSERTATION ON THE 

influence of natural corruption, very many could have 
fallen into the way of deeming it right to deceive for 
the cause of religion ; nor do I think that, before this 
kind of Platonic wisdom passed into the Church, none 
of those who had professed Christianity adopted this 
most reprehensible practice. But what I affirm is, 
that from the time in which the disciples of Christ 
listened favorably to these philosophers, this pestilence 
was much more extensively diffused than before, and 
that it corrupted the manners and teaching even of 
most estimable men ; and, therefore, was exceedingly 
detrimental to the Church." 

Again : "It was an established maxim with many 
of the Christians, that it was pardonable in an advo- 
cate of religion to avail himself of fraud and decep- 
tion, if it were likely that they might conduce to the 
attainment of any considerable good." Mosheim's 
Com. on the Affairs of Christianity before Constantine, 
vol. i., p. 212. 

It was the introduction of this philosophic tenet 
that paved the way for those pious frauds (as they 
have been termed), which the clergy employed from 
the second to the fifteenth century, to answer their 
purposes and carry their schemes into effect. They 
concluded that if civil rulers might deceive to secure 
only temporal benefits, how much more clearly must 
it be right for those who claimed to be spiritual rulers 
to deceive, for the sake of securing spiritual and ever- 
lasting benefits. 

In this way the apostolic writings were intentionally 
altered, and numerous books were written professing 
to have been the genuine productions of the apostles, 
whenever authority was wanted to sustain a favorite 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 31 

doctrine or practice, and especially when these were 
made the subject of theological discussion. When it 
was asked why such productions as claimed to be of 
apostolic origin were so long kept secret, it was urged, 
that " The apostles and fathers, who from the begin- 
ning prescribed certain rights to the Church, knew 
how to preserve the dignity of the mysteries, by the 
secrecy and silence in which they enveloped them. 
For what is open to the ear and the eye is no longer 
mysterious. For this reason, several things have been 
handed down to us without writing, lest the vulgar, 
too familiar with our dogmas, should pass from being 
accustomed to them to the contempt of them." Basil 
on the Holy Spirit, c. 27. 

It is easy to understand how the practice of decep- 
tion and fraud, under the pretence of "doing God 
service," could be employed by designing men to 
accomplish their purposes, and the evils to which it 
gave rise were of the most serious character. Doc- 
trines were imposed upon the Church, which, in the 
days of her purity, she never owned — lifeless forms 
and ceremonies were multiplied — the true life of reli- 
gion was in great measure lost — and a veneration for 
saints, relics, bones, and images was substituted for the 
worship of the Deity. 

These corruptions of Christianity, however gradual 
at first, continued by insidious steps to abridge the 
rights and liberties of the people, to augment the 
authority, and centralize the power of the clergy, until 
it attained its climax in the recognition of the Bishop 
of Kome as the Vicar of Christ and Head of an infal- 
lible Church. 

A succession to the office of the Christian ministry 



32 DISSERTATION ON THE 

in a line of regular descent and ordination from the 
Apostle Peter, had its origin in those benighted times 
when Christianity had lost the character of a practical 
religion, and qualification was no longer regarded as 
essential to the ministerial calling. It does not appear 
to have occurred to those w^io first introduced this 
singular and absurd notion, that Paul, one of the most 
noted Christian ministers, never was ordained by Peter 
or by any other man. Nor did they reflect that the 
title only, and not the qualification, could be conferred 
by succession or ordination. Now as the value of the 
ministry depends upon the right exercise of gifts, 
which are alone at the disposal of the Holy Spirit, no 
one could be ordained a minister, or be such by suc- 
cession, whom Christ had not already prepared for the 
work, any more than a man could be ordained a phi- 
losopher, a statesman, or a mathematician, who was 
not made so, before such titles were conferred, by im- 
proved natural abilities. It would be as reasonable to 
expect to see the chair of philosophy, of mathematics, 
or of State, properly filled by a regular succession, as 
to expect to see the Christian Church supplied with 
spiritual teachers through a similar channel. 

The Bishop and Clergy of Rome had no sooner 
monopolized to themselves the title of "The Holt 
Catholic Church," than they issued a decree, in which, 
among other determinations, they announced : " AYe 
will that those who embrace this creed (i. e., the 
Nicene,) be called Catholic Christians; we brand all 
the senseless followers of other religions b}' the infa- 
mous name of heretics, and forbid their conventicles 
to assume the name of churches. We reserve their 
punishment to the vengeance of heaven, and to such 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 33 

measures as divine inspiration shall dictate to us." 
This was in the year 380. The next year it was 
introduced into the creed of the Catholic Church, and 
became an article of religious belief. In the year 3S2 
the Emperor Theodosius issued an edict against here- 
tics, by which, for the first time in the history of 
Christianity, a difference of opinion among Christians 
was made punishable with death. 

From the time the bishop of Eome attempted to 
reduce the eastern churches to a state of servile obe- 
dience, by claiming a sort of pre-eminence above all 
the other prelates, Eome became the scene of dissen- 
sions, tumults, and cabals, which often produced the 
most deplorable consequences, particularly whenever a 
new bishop was to be elected to fill the papal chair. 

In the year 366, upon the death of Liberius, one 
faction elected Damasus to that high dignity, whilst 
the opposite party chose Ursicinus, a deacon of the 
vacant church, to succeed Liberius. " This double 
election gave rise to a dangerous schism, and even to a 
civil war within the city of Rome, which was carried 
on with the utmost barbarity and fury, and produced 
the most cruel massacres and desolation. This inhu- 
man contest ended in the victory of Damasus; but 
whether his cause was more just than that of Ursi- 
cinus, is a question not so easy to determine:' — Mosh. 
Ecc. Hist. Part II. ch. 2. One thing is certain, the 
right of the successful bishop was determined by the 
sword, his claim to a regular succession from Peter to 
the contrary notwithstanding. 

In the succeeding centuries, the Eoman bishops con- 
trived to increase their authority, and by taking ad- 
vantage of the civil dissensions in Europe, their influ- 
3 



34 DISSERTATION ON THE 

ence rose to an enormous height. Elated with their 
overgrown power, both spiritual and temporal, they 
claimed for themselves absolute infallibility. They 
not only aspired to the character of supreme legis- 
lators in the church, to an unlimited jurisdiction over 
all synods and councils, and to the sole distribution of 
all ecclesiastical honors, as divinely authorized and 
appointed for that purpose, but they even carried their 
pretensions so far as to proclaim themselves lords of 
the universe, arbiters of the fate of kingdoms and em- 
pires, and supreme rulers over the kings and princes 
of the earth. 

They declared the whole earth was theirs; and 
accordingly, on the discovery of the continent of Ame- 
rica by Columbus, the Pope, by virtue of these arro- 
gant claims, granted to the Portuguese the right of all 
countries east, and to the Spaniards the right of all 
countries west of a certain geographical line, which 
they were able to conquer by force of arms. 

In the year 1378, the conflicting factions in the 
church elected two popes, one of whom remained at 
Avignon, while the other was installed at Home. 
During this state of things, known as the great western 
schism, there were two, and sometimes three popes, 
contending for the office, and excommunicating one 
another under charges of impiety and wickedness of 
almost every kind. After enduring these disgraceful 
scenes for forty years, the kings of Europe determined 
to put a stop to it, by compelling the different factions 
to submit their respective claims to a general council 
assembled at Constance, who were to determine the 
matter. The Council of Constance settled the question 
so far as to compel the several competitors to resign, 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 35 

and then elected a new pope by the name of Martin V. 
Although this did not restore the peace and harmony 
of the church, nor diminish the pride and ambition of 
her ministers, it was not without some beneficial 
effects; for, by these dissensions, the papal power 
received an incurable wound ; and kings and princes, 
who formerly had been the slaves of lordly pontiffs, 
now became their judges and masters. 1 

From this time until the reformation under Luther, 
the immoral and profligate lives of the popes, bishops 
and clergy not only continued to be as notorious as 
ever, but increased to such a degree that, with the 
intellectual and moral portion of mankind, the min- 
istry became a by-word and a reproach. 

We are not, however, to suppose that, during all 
these times, when the Christian ministry was involved 
in superstition and error, the genuine religion of Jesus 
was entirely lost ; for, like the seven thousand in the 
days of Elijah, there was still a remnant who did not 
bow the knee to Baal, nor kiss his image. 

The belief that this was still the church established 
by Jesus and the apostles, was so generally received, 
that many sincere and devout persons, who, while they 
lamented the corruptions of the times, still consoled 
themselves, that, although the clergy might be im- 
moral in their lives, they still had power, by virtue of 
their ordination, to exercise the functions of the Chris- 
tian ministry. These remained faithful in their attach- 
ment to her, hoping the day would come when God 
would cleanse her of her leprosy. A few bold voices 
were raised for the cause of religion, but they were 

'Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 390. 



36 DISSERTATION ON THE 

drowned amidst the anathemas that thundered from 
Rome. 

We have here a picture of the sad effects of that 
corruption of Christianity, which gave a maintenance 
to the clergy. The " love of money" became " the root 
of all evil ;" for, through all these dark times of the 
apostasy, they embraced every opportunity to exact it 
from the mass of the people, that they might increase 
their power, and more effectually " bear rule by their 
means." They not only demanded an extravagant 
living, but costly churches must be erected, to gratify 
human pride, and give to the religion of which they 
were the exponents, all the outward emblems of 
worldly grandeur. 

Nor were they very scrupulous as to the means they 
employed to fill their coffers. To meet their extrava- 
gant wants, they engaged in that iniquitous traffic, the 
sale of indulgences, by which a diploma was granted 
to the profligate and licentious, to commit any sin, 
whatever its magnitude, upon the payment of a sum 
of money, which was rated by a regular tariff of prices, 
according to the wealth of the individual and the na- 
ture of the offence. 

Even this resort did not fully satisfy their exor- 
bitant demands. The sins of the living were not only 
turned to a means of profit, but they finally disco- 
vered a method to avail themselves of the sins of the 
dead. " The philosophers of Alexandria had spoken 
of a fire, in which men were to be purified. Some 
ancient doctors in the church had received the notion. 
Rome declared this philosophic tenet the doctrine of 
the church ; and the pope, by a bull, added purgatory 
to his domains. It was declared that the living might, 






CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 37 

by making certain sacrifices, shorten, or even termi- 
nate, the torments their ancestors and friends were 
enduring in purgatory" — D'Aubigne s History of the 
Reformation, vol. i. p. 37. 

These sacrifices generally consisted in the payment 
of money, and thus this diabolical scheme, operating 
on the minds of the ignorant and superstitious, be- 
came the source of an immense revenue to the clergy. 
The evil of priestcraft, however, had now reached its 
height, and the reformation became inevitable. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY SINCE THE REFORMATION. 

We have shown how the Christian ministry became 
perverted soon after the times of the apostles, by indi- 
viduals claiming an ecclesiastical authority inconsistent 
with the genius and teaching of the gospel. We have 
shown how, by gradual encroachments on the rights 
of the people, religious liberty became almost extinct, 
and an order of men, claiming to succeed to the privi- 
leges and immunities of the ancient Jewish priesthood, 
finally monopolized to themselves the absolute right of 
being the spiritual teachers of mankind, under the title 
of Tlie Holy Catholic Church, and maintaining that, by 
virtue of their priestly functions, they had power to 
perpetuate their institution by successive ordinations 
among themselves to the end of time. We have shown 
that one of the greatest corruptions of Christianity 



38 DISSERTATION ON THE 

consisted in the claims of this self-constituted priest- 
hood to a maintenance at the expense of the church. 

In consequence of the glaring departures of the 
clergy, and the popes and cardinals of Koine, from the 
simplicity and purity of the Christian religion, all 
devout persons had become so disgusted with the 
church, that a reformation was regarded as necessary, 
to rescue the name of Christianity from universal 
reproach. 

The reformation commenced under the preaching of 
Luther, about the year 1517, and was carried on by 
him and other reformers, in opposing the corruptions 
of the Church of Eome, in exposing the vices and 
abuses of the clergy, which had now become of the 
most flagrant character, in creating an immense indig- 
nation against the Pope, as the vicar of Christ and 
head of the Holy Catholic Church, and causing thou- 
sands to throw off their allegiance to him. 

But the reformation under Luther did not accom- 
plish all that was necessary to restore Christianity to 
its original simplicity and purity. It did not take 
away all the profits and emoluments of the ministerial 
calling, nor purify Christianity from those presump- 
tuous institutions of priestcraft that had been intro- 
duced through the lapse of preceding ages. 

The national reformed churches which followed in 
the wake of this great ecclesiastical revolution, bor- 
rowed from the papal establishment some of its most 
objectionable features — the succession of the ministry — 
the forced maintenance of the clergy — and various 
superstitious rites and ceremonies. The doctrines and 
principles of the reformation soon became amalgamated 
with the corrupt institutions of the apostasy ; and the 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 39 

Christian ministry, under such a condition of things, 
instead of uniting the church in the bonds of religious 
fellowship and communion, became again prostituted 
to the unworthy purpose of defending sectarian theology 
and spreading discord and strife. 

Instead of advocating the simple and self-evident 
truths of Christianity, as set forth in the precepts of 
Jesus, the reformers began to reduce Christianity to 
systematic forms of doctrine, suiting their own peculiar 
temperaments, views, and prejudices, and thus soon 
arrayed themselves in open hostility to one another. 
A little reflection ought to have convinced the leaders 
of the Reformation that they had taken a wrong method 
of promulgating the principles of Christianity, from the 
fact that there was a want of harmony and Christian 
love among them. This consideration, however, does 
not seem to have prevented them from falliug into the 
deplorable error of persecuting one another for differ- 
ences of opinion. Each one insisted upon his theory, 
and all demanded, whenever they had the secular 
power to aid them, the unconditional compliance of 
others under the most threatening penalties. The 
Protestant sects, as they came into existence, claimed 
the right to anathematize their predecessors ; and thus, 
within a few years of the Reformation, we have the sad 
spectacle of Calvinists persecuting Lutherans — and 
Lutherans in their turn oppressing the Calvinists. 
Michael Servetus only escaped the horrors of the Inqui- 
sition in Spain to be burnt at Geneva by John Calvin, 
one of the most distinguished of the reformers. 

These difficulties and embarrassments, which entan- 
gled the feet of the reformers, and became so inj urious 
to the cause they had espoused, no doubt were in great 



40 DISSERTATION ON THE 

measure the result of the prevalent opinion of the 
times, which they still entertained — that there could 
be but one Holy Catholic Church instituted by Christ, 
and endowed with ecclesiastical authority to perpetuate 
itself by a regular succession of ordained ministers. 

They do not seem to have recognised the fact that 
no such church ever was established or recognised by 
Jesus and the apostles, but the assumption of its exist- 
ence was a corruption of Christianity, or they would 
not have stood upon a platform so narrow and sectarian 
as not to include in Christian fellowship all those who 
" fear God and work righteousness." 

They attempted to enforce uniformity of opinion — 
though they had separate standards, all claimed divine 
authority to expound the Scriptures, to ordain such 
persons as they might approve to the gospel ministry, 
and to establish for succeeding ages a creed, embracing 
what they conceived to be orthodox Christianity, to 
bind the consciences of men. 

The accession of Queen Elizabeth to the throne of 
England was followed by great revolutions in the reli- 
gious world. The Reformation, which had been intro- 
duced in the reign of Henry VIIL, and rejected during 
the administration of Mary, was again revived, and the 
Church of England established nearly in its present 
form. 

Influenced by every change of the popular will, the 
clergy advocated Protestantism, or Popery, as best suited 
their temporal interests. It is matter of history that 
of 9,400 clergymen of the Romish church, the number 
of those who quit their preferments rather than Popery 
w r as less than two hundred. Many ministers who had 
been Protestants under Edward, became persecuting 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 41 

Romanists under Mary ; and under Elizabeth, they 
became again the zealous promoters of the Reformation. 

There are principles of right and truth inherent in 
the human soul, that may be crushed, but cannot be 
extinguished. They may lie dormant for a season, but 
it is only that they shall break forth with greater 
power. The latent heat of bodies remains often unper- 
ceived till they are submitted to some powerful pres- 
sure, when its existence becomes manifest to the 
senses — so the pressure of ecclesiastical tyranny brings 
into action those elements of the soul which demand a 
respect for its spiritual freedom. State religions and 
creeds have alike been ineffectual to check the progress 
of these principles. Hence dissenters from the religion 
of the State, breaking through the trammels of tradi- 
tion, have by their faithfulness brought the Church still 
farther out of the wilderness by annulling the union 
between Church and State. 

But as these dissenters from the national churches 
have formed themselves into religious sects for the 
purpose of maintaining their own peculiar views, 
nearly all of them have engrafted on their theory of 
religion, that institution of the apostasy which em- 
braces a maintenance of the clergy; and even in our 
own time, Christian ministers seem to claim it as 
their right to be supported at the expense of the 
Church. 

Among those reformers who have done the cause 
of Christianity essential service, George Fox holds a 
conspicuous place. He was born in England in 1624, 
and had his early education in the national church. 
His parents, who were religiously-minded people, spared 
no pains to educate him in conformity with its doc- 



4-2 DISSERTATION ON THE 

trines and mode of worship. At an early age he 
manifested great seriousness of thought and conduct, 
being " religious, inward, still, and observing." (Sewel's 
History of the Quakers.) Accustomed to frequent re- 
tirement and meditation, his mind became closely 
occupied in the contemplation of religious subjects. In 
the course of his reflections it occurred to him that a 
man might be bred at Oxford or Cambridge, and yet 
be unable to explain the great problem of existence. 
He consulted the priests upon various occasions, and 
on numerous subjects, but found them unable to 
satisfy his inquiries after truth. They professed to be 
religious teachers, but Fox soon perceived that their 
theological education had not qualified them to instruct 
others. He became weary of the formal, lifeless wor- 
ship of the times, and sought the enjoyment of a higher 
life in the silent contemplation of his own soul, and 
communion with God. His mind rose above the pre- 
judices of sect — he saw that truth was simple, and 
could be reached by obedience to the immediate influ- 
ences of the Holy Spirit. The thought inspired him 
with courage for the conflict, and he came forth as an 
advocate for greater reforms in religion : demanding as 
the inalienable right of all men, religious liberty, and 
the unrestricted enjoyment of the rights of private 
judgment. 

" The authority claimed by the clergy of the Angli- 
can Church, as well as by the Romish priesthood, by 
virtue of their ordination and pretended apostolic suc- 
cession, he considered utterly fallacious ; inasmuch as 
it was derived through an apostate church, and was 
held to be sufficient without regard to personal cha- 
racter or experience. None are successors of the apos- 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 43 

ties, in their ministry, unless endued with a measure 
of the same divine spirit that dwelt in the apostles, 
even as they only who have the faith of Abraham are 
accounted his children and heirs of the promise. As 
well might a man, entirely ignorant of natural science, 
attempt to fill the chair of philosophy, as for one who 
has not experienced the regenerating power of divine 
grace, to assume the office of expounding the sacred 
truths of religion." Janney's Life of Fox, p. 45. 

Wra. Penn says, " He was a man that God endowed 
with a clear and wonderful depth, a discerner of others' 
spirits, and very much master of his own." 

Perhaps no man has had greater injustice done him 
than George Fox. Beyond the pale of his own society 
his character has not been fairly understood. By some 
writers he has been denounced as a silly enthusiast — 
by others, as a blasphemer — and again by others, he 
and his friends have been viewed as an association of 
visionary fanatics, who combined together to excite 
tumult and disorder. They have even been charged 
by an eminent ecclesiastical writer, 1 with being riotous 
and tumultuous in the highest degree, and spoken of 
as meriting the severe chastisements of the secular 
arm for their fanaticism, extravagance, and folly. No 
statement, however, can be more destitute of truth. 
George Fox soon gathered around him a society of 
sincere believers, many of whom were eminent for their 
learning and piety; and in his thirtieth year, he had 
seen no fewer than sixty persons spreading as minis- 
ters the doctrines and testimonies of the newly-formed 
society. The religious society which thus sprung up 
had no written creed or confession of faith as a step- 

1 Dr. Mosheim. • 



44 DISSERTATION ON THE 

ping-stone to membership. Holiness of life was regarded 
as the only thing essential to admit all who applied, to 
the benefits of religious association. The ministry was 
entirely free — no particular class enjoyed the right to 
speak in the assemblies. If any individuals, either 
male or female, felt themselves called upon to speak, 
they were at liberty to do so, and were encouraged to 
exercise their gift in the ministry to the common edi- 
fication, provided, they were consistent in their life and 
conduct. 

Through the whole period of his life, he continued 
his labors as a minister of the gospel, and even preached 
within two days of his death. He travelled much in 
England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Holland, Germany, 
the British West Indies, and North America. He 
wrote many religious books, addressed letters to the 
Pope, to kings, princes, magistrates, and people, as he 
felt impressions on his mind which convinced him that 
it was his duty to do it. But he did not escape the 
persecuting spirit of the times. He was long and re- 
peatedly confined in filthy prisons, in two of which he 
was so exposed that he was scarcely ever dry for two 
years, for the rain beat into them, and ran down upon 
the floor. This great exposure injured his health, and 
laid the foundation for future physical suffering during 
the remainder of his life. The character of Fox, and 
the principles for which he contended, are beginning 
to be better appreciated, and modern writers have as- 
signed him his true place among the reformers. 

" The rise of the people called Quakers," says Ban- 
croft, " is one of the memorable events in the history 
of man. It marks the moment when intellectual free- 
dom was claimed unconditionally by the people as an 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 45 

inalienable birthright. To the masses in that age, all 
reflection on politics and morals presented itself under 
a theological form. The Quaker doctrine is philosophy 
summoned from the cloister, the college, and the saloon, 
and planted amongst the most despised of the people. 
As poetry is older than critics, so philosophy is older 
than metaphysicians. The mysterious question of the 
purpose of our being is always before us and within 
us ; and the little child, as it begins to prattle, makes 
inquiries which the pride of learning cannot solve. 
The method of solution adopted by the Quakers was 
the natural consequence of the origin of their sect. 
The mind of George Fox had the highest systematic 
sagacity; and his doctrine, developed and rendered 
illustrious by Barclay and Penn, was distinguished by 
its simplicity and unity. The Quaker has but one 
word — the inner light — the voice of God in the soul. 
That light is a reality, and therefore in its freedom 
the highest revelation of truth ; it is kindred with the 
Spirit of God, and therefore merits dominion as the 
guide to virtue ; it shines in every man's heart, and 
therefore joins the whole human race in the unity of 
equal rights. Intellectual freedom, the supremacy 
of mind, universal enfranchisement, — these three 
points include the whole of Quakerism, as far as it 
belongs to civil history." History of United States, 
vol. ii., p. 337. 

" The Quaker never would pay tithes ; never yielded 
to any human law which traversed his conscience. 
He did more : he resisted tyranny with all the moral 
energy of enthusiasm, bearing witness against blind 
obedience not less than against will-worship. Believing 
in the supremacy of mind over matter, he sought no 



46 DISSERTATION ON THE 

control over the government except by intelligence; 
and therefore he needed to hold the right of free dis- 
cussion inviolably sacred. He never consented to the 
slightest compromise of this freedom." — Hist, of U. S. 
vol. ii. p. 349. 

One of the most important principles advocated by 
Fox, was the absolute free character of the Christian 
ministry. He went a step further than those dissenters 
from the established religion who denounced legal pro- 
vision for the ministry, but substituted the system of 
voluntary 'payment. 

Fox is still regarded by many as an enthusiast, and 
his religious tenets as chimerical. The society which 
he -gathered has never labored to make proselytes by 
the employment of ministers and missionaries in the 
work of the gospel. It has educated none for these 
callings : and yet it has never been without a min- 
istry. The fundamental principles which Fox advo- 
cated, have greatly spread, and received from thou- 
sands of unprejudiced and honest minds, both within 
and without the pale of the various religious sects, a 
cordial recognition. This may be attributed mainly 
to the fact, that Quakerism has existed for two cen- 
turies without the barrier of a creed ; that it encou- 
rages freedom of thought, and leaves the mind to follow 
its own intuitions. 

Other reformers have carried the work down to our 
day, and if the reformation has not been complete, it 
becomes our duty to advance it still further. 

Every generation has its work to perform — the spirit 
of this is progressive. While every other subject is 
undergoing the refinements of examination, the min- 
istry will not be allowed to escape, because it has no 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 47 

sanctity that should shield it from honest criticism. 
We do not think the present age can do the cause of 
truth a better service, than to secure and hand down 
to posterity the priceless blessing of a free and unfet- 
tered gospel ministry. 



CHAPTER IV. 

woman's preaching-. 

In order to determine whether woman's preaching 
is consistent with the requirements of Christianity, it 
is only necessary to inquire whether she does or can 
possess any of those gifts of the Holy Spirit which are 
necessary for the ministry ? Is she capable of any ex- 
perience in divine things? Does the Holy Spirit 
inspire her with the principles of truth and virtue, 
and with the gift of communicating this knowledge to 
others? If these questions are answered in the 
affirmative, no other argument is necessary to prove it 
is ; for we hold it to be an incontrovertible truth, " that 
the possession of a faculty, is the Divine warrant for 
its exercise." 1 

Had the Great Author of mind distributed the gifts 
of the Spirit, and bestowed moral and intellectual en- 
dowments upon one sex only, there would be some 
grounds for an argument why the other should not 
exercise them ; but as this partial distribution has not 
been made, no amount of testimony, whether of men 

1 F. D. Gage. 



48 DISSERTATION ON THE 

or of angels, can invalidate the right, or lessen the 
duty of each, to appropriate their respective talents, to 
the praise of the Giver and the good of the race. 

That women have frequently exercised the functions 
of prophetesses under the law, and ministers under the 
gospel, is a truth so apparent in history as not to admit 
a doubt. 

The account of Deborah, of Miriam, of Hulda, of 
Anna, of Phebe, " a servant of the church ; " of Pris- 
cilla ; of the four daughters of Philip ; of the woman 
of Samaria, who, under the immediate notice of Jesus, 
became one of the first preachers of the gospel, and 
others mentioned in the Scriptures, confirms this fact. 

Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, acknowledged 
" Phebe a servant of the church at Cenchrea," and 
greeted Priscilla as one of his helpers in Christ Jesus. 
In his Epistle to the Philippians, he says, " I entreat 
thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which 
labored with me in the gospel." In his Epistle to the 
Corinthians, he gives directions how he would like 
women to appear when they prayed and prophesied, 
which would be without meaning, if these things were 
not done in a public manner. 

A careful examination of Paul's Epistle to Timothy, 
shows clearly that women were recognised as ministers 
in the church at that period. In the third chapter of 
the epistle, after defining the qualifications of bishops 
and deacons, he says, " Even so must ' the deaconesses ' 
be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things." 
Our present English translation renders the Greek 
word, which means more properly a deaconess, or officer 
of the church, " deacons wives!' See Macknight on the 
Epistles, and other commentators. Also Dr. Bloom- 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 49 

field's Recensio Synqptica, viii. 239.) Again, in ch. v. 
9, 10, Paul speaks of deaconesses, or female presbyters, 
by the synonymous term widow, which was recognised 
as such by the early ecclesiastical writers. After 
speaking of widows in the ordinary sense, who might 
require the extension of Christian benevolence : he 
says, " Let not a widow be taken into the number 
under threescore years old, having been the wife of 
one man, well reported of for good works ; if she have 
brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if 
she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved 
the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every 
good work." Now, as it is evidently impossible that 
Paul could have meant to exclude widows who had 
performed these acts from the charities of the gospel 
till they were sixty years old, the word should have 
been rendered deaconess. See Bingham's Antiqui- 
ties of the Christian Church, or any other copious his- 
tory of the early church, to satisfy the reader that, 
during the first two or three centuries, deaconesses 
were appointed and regularly ordained as bishops, dea- 
cons, or presbyters, and were expressly recognised till 
after the time of Constantine, as a part of the clergy. 
Prof. Schaff, in his "History of the Apostolic Church," 
admits that women engaged in teaching, and says, 
they even prayed and prophesied in public, in the time 
of the apostles. He gives it, however, as his opinion, 
that these women " forgot their natural place." 

Mosheim, in his "Commentary on the Affairs of 
Christianity before Constantine," vol. i. p. 179, says, 
" Ministers of each sex officiated in the apostolic 
church." 

All reliable ecclesiastical writers admit this fact, 
4 



50 DISSERTATION ON THE 

although they attempt to show, without reason or evi- 
dence, that these female officers of the church were 
appointed for private duties, and seldom appeared as 
public teachers or ministers. 

It is evident that deacons engaged in the business 
of teaching, from the slightest inspection of the Acts 
of the Apostles, ch. vi. and vii. ; and that deaconesses 
exercised analogous functions, is plain from other parts 
of the New Testament, and other sources of historical 
knowledge. 

The "Apostolic Constitutions and Canons," a work 
of undoubted antiquity, but of uncertain date, recog- 
nises deaconesses as a part of the clergy. This book, 
long supposed to have been the production of the 
apostles, is believed to have been written from the 
second to the fourth century, and although it may be 
regarded as one of those pious frauds, practised by the 
Christian fathers of that period, as we have mentioned 
in a former chapter, nevertheless, shows what were 
some of the usages and practices of the primitive 
Christian church. In Book II. ch. xxvi., we find the 
following under the head, "According to what pattern 
and dignity every order of the clergy is appointed of 
God." 

*'Let the bishop therefore preside over you as one 
honored with the authority of God, &c. But let the 
deacon minister to him (the bishop) as Christ does to 
his Father, &c. Let also the deaconess be honored of 
you in the place of the Holy Ghost, &c. Let the 
presbyters be esteemed by you to represent us the 
apostles," &c. In the same work, Book VIII., after 
giving the form of ordination of a presbyter and a 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 51 

deacon, the following, which is alike as to any external 
form or ceremony, is given for a deaconess : 

"0 Eternal God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Creator of man and woman; who didst, 
with the Spirit, replenish Miriam, and Deborah, and 
Anna, and Hulda; who didst not disdain that thy 
only begotten son should be born of a woman ; who 
also, in the tabernacle of the testimony, and in the 
temple, didst ordain women to be keepers of thy holy 
gates ; do thou thyself also now look upon this thy 
handmaid appointed to the office of deaconess; and 
grant her the Holy Spirit, and cleanse her from all 
filthiness of flesh and spirit; that she may worthily 
discharge the work which is committed to her, unto 
thy glory and the praise of thy Christ; with whom 
glory and adoration be to thee, and to the Holy Spirit 
forever. Amen." 

It is undeniable that, during the first two or three 
centuries, women were admitted to these high places 
in the church, as authoritatively and formally as either 
presbyters or deacons. 

In speaking of deaconesses, Bingham, in his "Anti- 
quities of the Christian Church," Book II. ch. xxii., 
says, " If it be inquired, how long this order continued 
in the church, and at what time it was totally abo- 
lished ? I answer, it was not laid aside everywhere at 
once, but continued in the Greek church longer than 
the Latin, and in some of the Latin churches longer 
than in others. In the Greek church, they continued 
till the time of Balsamon, that is, to the latter end of 
the twelfth century ; for he speaks of them as then 
ministering in the church of Constantinople ; though 
it appears, from some passages of the same author, 



52 DISSERTATION ON THE 

that in other churches they were generally laid aside. 
In the Latin church, there were some decrees made 
against their ordination long before. For the first 
Council of Orange, A. D. 441, forbids any more dea- 
conesses to be ordained. And the Council of Epone, 
A. d. 517, has a canon to the same purpose, wholly 
abrogating their consecration. Not long after which, 
the second Council of Orleans, A. D. 533, renewed the 
decree against them. And before any of these, the 
Council of Laodicea, in the Eastern church, had for- 
bidden them under the name of ancient widows or 
governesses, decreeing that no such, for the future, 
should be constituted in the church. But these de- 
crees had no effect at all in the East, nor did they 
universally take effect in the West till many ages after." 

We have shown in a previous chapter, that, before 
the middle of the third century, the opinion had been 
artfully propagated, and generally received, that the 
clergy of the Christian church were the successors of 
the Aaronical priesthood, whose high-priest, priest and 
Levite were represented by bishop, presbyter and dea- 
con ; it therefore became necessary to get rid of the 
deaconesses, to whose office there was nothing analogous 
under the Jewish priestly system. 

At first they were considered along with . the dea- 
cons, as the representatives of the Levites. Hence the 
author of the Constitutions, Book II. ch. xxv., says, 
" The bishops are your high-priests, as the presbyters 
are your priests ; and your present deacons are instead 
of the Levites, as are also your deacomsses" &c. They 
were, however, afterwards forbidden to baptize (Apos. 
Con. Book III. ch. ix.) ; and finally, by a canon (Apos. 
Con. Book VIII. ch. xxviii.), prevented from perform- 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 53 

ing anything belonging to the office of presbyter or 
deacon, but " only to keep the doors, and to minister 
to the presbyters in the baptizing of women, on account 
of decency." 

The office was at length abolished, and woman was 
deprived of the place and position to which she is 
entitled as a moral agent and member of the church 
of Christ. A position, as regards the Christian min- 
istry, which she faithfully occupied in the earlier ages 
of the church, and from which she was at first deposed 
by an unauthorized corporation of self-made priests. 

One of the reformations demanded by George Fox, 
was the restoration of woman to the enjoyment of the 
privileges which had been unjustly wrested from her. 
The Society of Friends, acting out the Christian doc- 
trine, so well defined by the eminent Paul, " as many 
of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on 
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is 
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; 
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus," have accordingly, 
for two hundred years, acknowledged the right and 
fitness of woman to engage in the work of the ministry, 
and to participate in the government of the church. 
From the experience of two centuries something ought 
to be learned of the effects of such a measure. 

What are the facts ? During this period there have 
been many faithful women who have labored in this 
vineyard ; and thousands could testify that the ministry 
of these was instrumental in turning them unto right- 
eousness, while not a single disadvantage has resulted 
from it. 

Those who are opposed to woman exercising the 
functions of the Christian ministry, quote the remarks 



54: DISSERTATION ON THE 

of Paul to the Corinthians as an argument in favor of 
their views, where he says, " Let your women keep 
silence in the churches ; for it is not permitted unto 
them to speak, but they are commanded to be under 
obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn 
anything, let them ash their husbands at home ; for it 
is a shame for a woman to speak in the church." 

Having before shown that Paul recognised women 
as ministers and servants of the church, and even gave 
directions how he would have them appear when they 
publicly prayed or prophesied, we think the inference 
that these remarks were intended to exclude all women 
from preaching is absurd and ridiculous. 

Upon equally good grounds might we infer that Paul 
forbade women to marry as well as forbade them to 
preach, because, in the same epistle, he says : " I say there- 
fore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if 
they abide even as I." 1 Cor. vii. 8. And in the 38th 
verse of the same chapter, he expressly says it is better 
for them not to marry. 

Paul no doubt intended by his remarks to the Corin- 
thians to correct an abuse of the Christian liberty which 
was freely enjoyed at that time by all the members of 
the church, of asking questions and speaking in their 
assemblies ; and from his language it is easy to perceive 
that he alluded only to a particular class of married 
ivomen, who were no doubt troubling the church with 
questions of a domestic character, which ought more 
properly to have been referred to " their husbands at 
home." 

If we place any other construction on his words, we 
not only make him contradict himself, but they prove 
too much even for the opponents of woman's preaching. 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 55 

u Let your women keep silence in the churches. If they 
will learn anything (i. e. receive any spiritual advice 
or instruction), let them ask their husbands at home." 
If these remarks were of general application, or intended 
to include all women down to the present time, this is 
their literal significance. Do the clergy of our day 
advise women to u keep silence n in the churches ? No. 
They encourage and allow them to sing — as much a 
violation of the apostolic command as to preach. This 
is undeniable. Do they tell the women that if they 
will " learn anything, to ash their husbands at home" 
and not go to the church or clergy for spiritual advice 
and instruction ? Xot a word of it. If the idea were 
once seriously entertained that women should " keep 
silence in the churches," and get their spiritual instruc- 
tion at home, the maintenance of a salaried clergy 
would speedily cease. They are the main pillar on 
which the institution of & paid ministry rests, the prin- 
cipal instruments in providing the means by which its 
machinery is kept in motion. 

The clergy are perfectly aware of this, and hence 
they avail themselves of the aid and influence of women 
in collecting funds for the church, the ministry, mis- 
sions, kc. &c. ; and although they will not admit her 
to preach, we have known instances where intelligent 
women have been engaged to write sermons for their 
pastors to deliver from the pulpit. 

Again, the language of this same apostle, where he 
says (1 Tim. ii. 12), "I suffer not a woman to teach," 
is regarded by many as a prohibition to woman's 
preaching. Now nothing can be more unfair than to 
put such a construction on his words, because we have 
before shown that in the same epistle, he allowed 



56 DISSEETATION ON THE 

women who were " well reported of for good works/' to 
exercise the functions of ministers or deaconesses in the 
church, and in which it is as clearly laid down that 
the class of women who were not fit to teach, and such 
as he forbade, were those who " learn to be idle, wan- 
dering about from house to house ; and not only idle, 
bat tattlers also, and busy bodies, speaking things 
which they ought not." That such were unfit to 
engage in the work of the ministry, and would only 
give " occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully," 
the discerning mind of the apostle was not slow in 
perceiving, and his remarks under these circumstances 
were just and appropriate. 



CHAPTER V. 

TEE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, A FREE MINISTRY — LEGAL PROVI- 
SION — VOLUNTARY PAYMENT — OBJECTIONS TO A THEOLOGICAL 
EDUCATION FOR THE MINISTRY. 

In presenting our views of a free ministry, we enter- 
tain no feelings of hostility towards any individual 
ministers of the gospel who may be in the practice of 
receiving a pecuniary compensation for their religious 
services. We believe there are in all the different sects, 
those among them who are " men fearing God and 
hating covetousness" — those whose piety, sincerity, and 
Christian attainments will commend them in the sight 
of heaven and of all good men. There are many 
among them who have seen the insufficiency of human 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 57 

learning to enable them to do the Lord's work, whose 
dependence has been on the aid of the Holy Spirit, 
which at times they have known to co-operate with 
their labors. From this class of Christian ministers, 
we hope to see individuals, who, following out their 
convictions, will come forward in the needed reforma- 
tion, and bear a practical testimony not only to the 
sufficiency of divine grace to fit them for this work, 
but also against an establishment which crept into the 
church in the days of her apostasy, & practice alien to 
the principles by which a minister of the gospel ought 
to be actuated, and contrary to the purity of Christian 
example, as exemplified in the ministry of Jesus and 
the apostles. We deal with principles, not with men — 
with priestcraft, not with priests. It is against the 
institution of a man-made ministry — deriving its quali- 
fications in theological schools — its authority from 
ordination by man — its reliance on human effort and 
ability to " divide the word aright" — and supported at 
the expense of the church, that our remarks are mainly 
intended to apply. 

We conscientiously believe that the practice of sup- 
porting the Christian ministry by pecuniary means, so 
generally adopted by religious sects, is a corruption of 
Christianity, which has greatly lessened its instrumen- 
tality for good to mankind. It has given to this high 
calling the character of a worldly employment, and 
induced many who have lacked its essential qualifica- 
tions to embark in it for the sake of gain. It has led 
to the establishment of a priestly hierarchy, in which 
the ministry has assumed to be the master instead of 
the servant of the church. 

Against legal provisio7i for the payment of ministers 



58 DISSERTATION ON THE 

of the gospel, little, perhaps, in this country, need be 
said. The evil effects of such provision in foreign 
lands are so glaringly apparent — the onerous system 
of tithing by which it is upheld — its unreasonable 
demands upon dissenters from the established religion, 
in requiring them to support a ministry in which they 
feel no interest, and which is contrary to their sense 
of right, — furnish a sufficient warning to the American 
people not to tolerate for a moment any demand of the 
clergy which in the least degree infringes on the rights 
of private judgment, or has a bearing directly or 
remotely favoring the union of Church and State. 

The system of supporting a ministry by tithes is with- 
out support on any principle of equity or justice. It 
is oppressive in the extreme. 

Let us see how the system works. An individual 
owns an estate, the annual income of which is one 
thousand pounds. The priesthood claims one-tenth 
of the income, which is one hundred pounds. The 
owner, by his own industry and labor, improves the 
estate, and makes it produce an income of two thousand 
pounds per annum. Now, the priesthood, which has 
contributed nothing towards the expenses of improve- 
ment, still claims a tenth, which now amounts to two 
hundred instead of one. Surely, this is enough to 
justify the remark of the man in the parable, " I knew 
thee, that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou 
hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not 
strewed." Matt. xxv. 24. 

Happily for us that we live in more favored times. 
The rights of man are now so far understood, the 
blessings of religious liberty are so far appreciated, that 
the dark and gloomy notions about compulsory wor- 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 59 

ship in an intolerant church, are fast vanishing from 
enlightened human society. In this country, at least, 
have the seeds of religious freedom been too deeply 
planted ever to be eradicated. As well might we at- 
tempt to turn the waters of our mightiest rivers back 
against their natural courses, as to check the tide of 
free inquiry and free discussion which has taken from 
priestcraft its power to rule any longer with despotic 
sway. That man has lived a century too late who will 
now assert that his form of worship, his creed, or his 
opinions, constitute the precise standard of religious 
belief and duty for all other men. The affected piety 
which is seeking to root out supposed heresy of opinion 
— which is attempting to control the rights of con- 
science, or to invade the sanctuary of religious liberty — 
will find no better response from the spirit of the age, 
than the children did, to whom Jesus likened the 
Pharisees of his generation : " Standing in the market- 
places, and crying aloud unto their fellows, saying; 
We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; 
we have mourned unto you, and ye have not la- 
mented." 

Although a priesthood, as an institution of the State, 
does not in this country exist, yet it is evident that 
the spirit which has ever animated it is not yet dead ; 
for wherever priestcraft is countenanced, we find reli- 
gious persecution openly advocated. The following ex- 
tracts will serve to show the spirit of the Catholic press 
touching persecution. First, from the " Shepherd of the 
Valley," early in 1852, the organ of a Catholic Priest, 
which says : " The Church, we admit, is, of necessity, 
intolerant. Her intolerance follows necessarily from 
her infallibility. She alone has the right to be into- 



60 DISSERTATION ON THE 

lerant. Heresy she inserts in her catalogue of mortal 
sins. She endures when and where she must; but 
she hates it, and directs all her energies to effect its 
destruction. If the Catholics ever gain (which they 
surely will do, though at a distant day,) an immense 
numerical majority, religious freedom in this country is 
at on end. So say our enemies — so we believe. We 
have said that we are not advocates of religious free- 
dom, and we repeat it, we are not. The liberty to 
believe contrary to the teachings of the Church, is the 
liberty to believe a lie. The liberty to think other- 
wise than she permits, is the liberty to abuse the mind 
and pollute the imagination. From such liberty, may 
we, and those we love, be at all times preserved." 

Another Catholic paper, called "The Rambler," 
holds the following language : u Keligious liberty, in 
the sense of a liberty possessed by every man to choose 
his own religion, is one of the most wicked delusions 
ever foisted upon this age by the father of all deceit. 
The very name of liberty, except in the sense of a 
permission to do certain definite acts, ought to be 
banished from the domain of religion. No man has a 
right to choose his religion. None but an atheist can 
uphold the principles of religious liberty. . . . We 
might as rationally maintain that a sane man has a 
right to believe that two and two do not make four, as 
this theory of religious liberty. Its impiety is only 
equalled by its absurdity." 

Bishop Ives, in a pamphlet entitled u Lectures on 
the Inquisition," published at Milwaukie, 1853, attempts 
an open defence of the Inquisition, as a salutary means 
of preserving the unity of the Church. He says, the 
Church of Rome " has ever professed not only to be- 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 61 

lieve, but to know, that its teachings are certainly 
true, that all other teachings are certainly false, and 
that uncompromising war with every element, within 
or without, in revolt against it, was certainly its bounden 
duty to God." — Page 7. Again : " It may safely be 
asserted, that there never has existed a nation, Pagan 
or Christian, of any race, clime or creed, until the 
Constitution of the United States was framed, in which 
the theory of religious variety was not excluded, as 
dangerous to the political welfare of the State." — Page 7. 
This is a candid avowal that Catholicism is better 
suited to the institutions and darkness of Paganism, 
than to the free and liberal institutions of the United 
States. 

If we look at those countries where the " theory of 
religious variety has been excluded as dangerous to 
the political welfare of the State," where the " Popes of 
Eome claimed the right, founded in the infallible cer- 
tainty of their being the exclusive repository of truth 
on earth, of despotically rebuking error, whatsoever 
form it might assume," 1 and some of these are the 
finest countries on the earth — we find that although 
they are crowded with priests, they have become " a 
land of beggars." Priestcraft has ruled for ages in 
Spain and Italy; but instead of being the handmaid 
of intelligence and freedom, ignorance and superstition 
have followed in its train — beggary and wretchedness 
have been inseparable from it. Priestcraft has been 
the scourge of our race — the guiltiest of all oppressors 
— because it has enslaved the mind, and shut out the 
light of science, philosophy and religion from millions 

1 Bishop Ives, page 48. 



62 DISSERTATION ON THE 

of mankind. Priests and kings have combined their 
power to rule fhe down-trodden masses of Europe, 
Asia, and Africa, with the iron rod of despotism. 

Of all people on the face of the earth, the citizens 
of these United States have the greatest cause to be 
thankful for the religious liberty they enjoy. They 
have the greatest cause to rejoice that, in the formation 
of their civil government, "the theory of religious 
variety" was retained, and a legal priesthood "ex- 
cluded." The reasons for this wise determination are 
well set forth in the Pennsylvania Charter of Privi- 
leges, in the following language, to wit : 

"Because no people can be truly happy, though 
under the greatest enjoyment of civil liberties, if 
abridged of the freedom of their consciences, as to their 
religious profession and worship ; and Almighty God 
being the only Lord of conscience, Father of lights and 
spirits, and the Author as well as object of all divine 
knowledge, faith, and worship, who doth only enlighten 
the minds, and persuade and convince the understand- 
ings of people. I do hereby grant and declare, that 
no person or persons inhabiting this province or territo- 
ries, who shall confess and acknowledge one Almighty 
God, the Creator, Upholder, and Ruler of the world, 
and profess him or themselves obliged to live quietly 
under the civil government, shall be in any case mo- 
lested or prejudiced in his or their person or estate, 
because of his or their conscientious persuasion or 
practice ; nor be compelled to frequent or maintain any 
religious worship, place, or ministry, contrary to his 
or their minds : or to do or suffer any other act or 
thing contrary to their religious persuasion." Such 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 63 

were the sentiments of the sagacious and enlightened 
mind of Penn. 

In the enjoyment of great spiritual liberty, with the 
right of private judgment secured against invasion by 
any priestly power, the American people must lightly 
value the blessings they enjoy, should they ever permit 
an aspiring clergy to fasten the fetters of ecclesiastical 
rule upon them. 

Any alliance between the civil government and the 
church is unholy and dangerous, and everything 
tending in the least degree to countenance it should be 
avoided. The employment of ministers in the service 
of the National or State Legislatures, is a practice that 
should be immediately abolished. It is, in principle, 
a legal provision of the ministry, which no man is con- 
stitutionally bound to submit to. It is an infringe- 
ment of individual rights, to require any one to sup- 
port a ministry he does not approve, or join in prayers 
in which he feels no life. Beside, it is often a mockery 
of the solemn act of religious devotion ; nor could it 
have escaped the notice of observing persons, that the 
numerous applicants for the office of chaplain, espe- 
cially for Congress, where the best pay is received, and 
the means taken to secure the place, show an eagerness 
on the part of the clergy, unbecoming their calling, to 
enjoy a share of the government "loaves and fishes." 

The great amount of praying which is annually paid 
for, out of the public treasury, does not seem to calm 
the agitated surface of the political sea, nor prevent 
unjust and unequal legislation ; and it might be safely 
dispensed with, as a useless ceremony. Our objection 
to it, however, lies deeper. We think it is wrong in 
principle, and that its effects are pernicious. 



64 DISSERTATION ON THE 

We propose, next, to inquire how far the system of 
voluntary payment of ministers of the gospel is liable 
to serious objections. " Thou shalt take no gift ; for 
the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words 
of the righteous." Exodus, xxiii. 8. 

It is inconsistent with the dignity of the gospel, for 
a Christian minister to bind himself to preach certain 
doctrines, and perform certain religious duties, for a 
certain stipulated compensation. For, by so doing, he 
is in some degree obliged, and those who employ him 
have a right to expect he will uphold such views 
and practices as best suit the taste and inclination of 
his hearers. In other words, he must preach to please 
men. How opposite is this to the example of Paul, 
who justly said, " If I preach to please men, I am no 
longer a servant of Christ." A minister binds him- 
self by an agreement to preach — the nature of the 
contract is so well understood, that he is expected to 
preach and pray at certain stated times. How can he 
know that he will feel, on such occasions, the aid of 
the Holy Spirit? He must preach and pray, no 
matter what may be the state of his own mind, or 
that of the congregation. Would it not be better for 
him to remain silent, than to attempt any service 
which he does not feel at the time specially called 
upon to perform ? 

Again, how can a minister be free to deliver the 
" whole counsel of God," if he bind himself to preach 
a certain set of opinions? Are the avenues of the 
soul to be closed against every new revelation of truth ? 
Has the treasury of divine things been exhausted, that 
the minister shall bring no more out of it " things new 
and old" Has man made all the progress in spiritual 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 65 

truths of which his nature is capable? The apostle 
declared, " We know in part, we prophesy in part ; 
but when that which is perfect is come, that which is 
in part shall be done away." 

The minister is tempted to please his hearers by the 
prospect of gain, and the influence of this temptation 
is to impair his sincerity as well as his independence. 
He is thereby induced to gratify his hearers, and even 
sometimes to uphold them in their evil conduct and 
practices. In conversation with one of those ministers 
who had been elected to the office of chaplain to Con- 
gress, we had occasion to make some remarks on the 
duty of ministers of the gospel in reference to the evils 
of war and slavery, when he distinctly avowed, without 
any wish for concealment, that he could not speak 
against those evils, without the certain danger of 
losing his appointment. Nor will it be denied that, 
in this country, there are a large number of ministers 
who uphold war and slavery, because it is made their 
interest to do so ; while another class, who really be- 
lieve both war and slavery are incompatible with 
Christianity, are prevented from crying aloud against 
these great national sins, because they know such 
preaching would not suit their employers. There is 
no way to avoid the evils and temptations which result 
from the principle of remuneration, but by adopting 
the practice of Jesus, and making the ministry abso- 
lutely independent of any expectation or prospect of 
pecuniary reward. That there are honorable excep- 
tions to the class of ministers we have above alluded 
to, we freely admit; but these exceptions never can 
prevent the evils of the system — they are inseparable 
from the system itself. 
5 ' 



66 DISSERTATION ON THE 

The ministry of the gospel is the work of the Lord, 
" If any man speak," says the apostle, " let him speak 
as the oracle of God. If any minister, let him 
minister in the ability which God giveth." Now, if 
these conditions are complied with, it is clear that a 
minister cannot engage beforehand to preach when 
others desire it, or to make a contract which binds him 
to preach on condition that his hearers shall pay him 
for his preaching. He ought only to preach when he 
feels the love of God, and the "ability which he 
giveth" strong enough to induce him, without the ex- 
pectation of reward. 

A late writer (J. J. Gurney) has made the following 
remarks on this subject: — "According to our appre- 
hension, the hiring of preachers degrades the character, 
and corrupts the practical operation of the ministry 
of the gospel. It is evident that such a system is 
closely connected with the notion, that the preacher 
may exercise his high functions on the authority, and 
according to the pleasure of man ; and, in practice, it 
obviously tends, in a very injurious manner, to confirm 
and establish that notion. "Were it true that the min- 
istry of the gospel is properly the work of man, re- 
quiring no other sanction than his appointment, and 
no other forces than his exertions, no objection what- 
ever could be made to such a method of proceeding. 
In that case, it would arise out of those fundamental 
laws of justice, which ought ever to regulate transac- 
tions betiveen man and man. But no sooner is the 
opposite principle allowed — no sooner is it admitted 
that the ministry of the gospel is the work of the 
Lord : that it can be exercised only in virtue of his 
appointment, and only through the effusions of his 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 67 

spirit : and that man has no power to command, and 
no authority to restrain, the influence which leads into 
such a service — no sooner are these things understood 
and allowed, than the compact which binds the min- 
ister to preach, on the condition that his hearers shall 
pay him for his preaching, assumes the character of 
absolute inconsistency with the spirituality of the 
Christian religion. 

"Though I preach the Gospel," says the apostle 
Paul, "I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid 
upon me ; ye&, woe is me if I preach not the gospel : 
for if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward : but 
if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is com- 
mitted unto me" 

Theologians have been obliged to rest their argu- 
ments for clerical support on ambiguous texts of Scrip- 
ture, there not being a single instance where any 
writer of the New Testament has unequivocally sanc- 
tioned it, nor a shadow of evidence that the apostles 
received a pecuniary compensation for their ministry, 
or that anything like a stipulated salary was given 
them. 

On the other hand, Paul says, " I have coveted no 
man's silver or gold or apparel ; yea, yourselves know 
that these hands have ministered to my necessities and 
to them that were with me. I have shown you all 
things, how that so laboring you ought to support the 
weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, 
how he said, " It is more blessed to give than to re- 
ceive." However unfashionable it would be in our day 
for a minister of the gospel in a popular church to earn 
nis bread and support himself and family at so humble 



68 DISSERTATION ON THE 

a trade as tent-making, yet such appears to have heen 
the simplicity of apostolic practice. 

Professor SchaiF, in his " History of the Apostolic 
Church," after quoting numerous Scripture texts which 
he thinks are favorable to the principle of ministerial 
support, including some passages which plainly have 
reference to the support of the poor, is obliged to make 
the following admission: "It is not to be supposed, 
however, that there was at this period any regular and 
fixed salary for ministers. Many, like Paul, according 
to the custom of the rabbis, may have continued their 
former trades in connection with their new calling, and 
may thus have earned a part or the whole of their 
subsistence. At all events, those who had the right 
spirit contented themselves with the simple necessaries 
of life."— Page 505. 

If, however, we had the clearest evidence that the 
apostles were hireling preachers, it would only prove 
that this corruption of Christianity was introduced 
earlier than the time assigned it by ecclesiastical 
history. 

We have selected the example of Jesus for the pur- 
pose of defining the character of the Christian min- 
istry, and we say, without fear of contradiction, that 
he never received a salary for preaching the gospel — 
nor expected the reward of man. We insist that his 
ministry was absolutely free ; and this being the uni- 
versal admission of Christians, ought to settle the ques- 
tion with regard to the ministry of those who profess 
to follow his example. 

One of the arguments adduced by the advocates of 
the principle of remuneration, is founded in the opinion 
that the functions of a Christian minister cannot be 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. G9 

performed without an education in some theological 
seminary 5 that, in order to be a minister of the gospel, 
a man must necessarily devote his youth and early 
manhood to such studies, as will prepare him for the 
pulpit, and that in the effort to acquire these qualifi- 
fications, he is thereby prevented from maintaining 
himself. 

When Jesus selected his apostles, he chose them 
from among the illiterate fishermen of Galilee. The 
first minister of his appointment was an uneducated 
woman, whose preaching made the first converts to 
Christianity. It is therefore evident that he did not 
consider human learning so essential to the ministry 
as the present practice of educating men for that station 
would seem to imply. The apostle Paul, who main- 
tained himself by the labor of his own hands, while 
engaged in the work of the gospel, in describing a 
Christian minister, says : " He must be blameless, 
vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality ; 
apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy 
of filthy lucre ; patient, not covetous ; not a brawler ; 
of good report ; an example to the believers in word, 
in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 
Content with food and raiment, avoiding vain disputa- 
tion; following after righteousness, godliness, faith, 
love, patience, meekness. Avoiding profane and vain 
babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called — 
strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ, not striving 
about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the 
hearers; avoiding foolish and unlearned questions, 
knowing that they do gender strife; just, holy, tem- 
perate, and in all things showing himself a pattern of 
good works." 



70 DISSERTATION ON THE 

Now, all these qualifications may be attained with- 
out an education in a theological seminary. 

If we attend to historical facts, we shall discover 
that the Christian religion flourished with the greatest 
vigor, and spread with the greatest rapidity, at the 
time when its ministers were chiefly plain and illiterate 
men. The church then enjoyed the greatest degree 
of harmony; but as soon as a theological education 
began to be regarded as an essential qualification of a 
minister of the gospel, the most violent controversies 
were introduced, and the beautiful and sublime fea- 
tures of the gospel became obscured by the visionary 
speculations of men. The following quotations from 
Mosheim's Ec. History will illustrate this fact : — 

" We see from the conversion of a great part of man- 
kind to the gospel hy the ministry of 'plain and illiterate 
men, the progress of Christianity is not to be attributed 
to human means, but to a divine power." 

"At this time (the first century), there was not 
the least controversy about those capital doctrines of 
Christianity which were afterwards so keenly debated 
in the church. This is not surprising, for the bishops 
of these times were plain and illiterate men." 

" The method of teaching the sacred doctrines of 
religion was at this time most simple, far removed from 
all the subtle rules of philosophy, and all the precepts 
of human art." 

" This appears abundantly, not only in the writings 
of the apostles, but also all those in the second cen- 
tury which have survived the ruins of time. Neither 
did the apostles or their disciples ever think of collect- 
ing into a regular system the principal doctrines of the 
Christian religion, or of demonstrating them in a sci- 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 71 

entific or geometrical order. The beauty and candid 
simplicity of these early ages rendered these philoso- 
phical niceties unnecessary; and the great study of 
those who embraced the gospel was more to express its 
divine influence in their dispositions and actions, than 
to examine its doctrines with an excessive curiosity, or 
to explain them by the rules of human wisdom." 

" The number of learned men, which was very small 
in the preceding century, grew considerably in this, 
and the Christian doctors began tc; introduce their 
subtle and obscure erudition into the religion of Jesus ; 
to involve in the darkness of vain philosophy some of 
the principal truths of Christianity, that had been re- 
vealed with the utmost plainness, and were indeed 
obvious to the meanest capacity — but this venerable 
simplicity was of short duration ; its beauty was gra- 
dually effaced by the laborious efforts of human learning, 
and the dark subtleties of imaginary science." 

We do not undervalue the importance of learning, 
or speak of it as a disparagement to any man. The 
improvement of the intellectual faculties is a moral 
duty — he who neglects this duty dishonors the Giver 
of them, and has a proportionate deduction made from 
the sum total of his happiness. But to say a man 
must study divinity, on the same principle that a me- 
chanic would learn a trade, or a student prepare him- 
self for the practice of medicine or law, with a view to 
become a minister of Christ, is to convert the gospel 
into a commodity of commerce, which may be ac- 
quired by human effort, and disposed of for pecuniary 
gain. 

The essential qualification of a minister of the gospel 
cannot be obtained at a theological seminary. It is a 



72 DISSERTATION ON THE 

gift, which can only be conferred by the Holy Spirit. 
This, at least, was the opinion of the Apostle Peter, 
when he rebuked Simon the Sorcerer, who offered the 
apostles money, thinking he could buy it. " Thy 
money perish with thee, because thou hast thought 
that the gift of God may be purchased with money." 
Acts viii. 20. The time that is spent year after year 
in studying for the ministry is, in our opinion, en- 
tirely wasted. Instead of relying on a theological 
education, how much better it would be for the minis- 
ter to say : " Christ sent me to preach the gospel, not 
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should 
be made of none effect." Again : " My speech and 
my preaching was not with enticing words of man's 
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and with 
power : that your faith should not stand in the wisdom 
of man, but in the power of God." The plea that a 
minister must devote much of his time in making pre- 
paration for the pulpit, seems to us a singular idea. 
If Christ hath sent him to preach the gospel without 
the "wisdom of words," and qualified him for the ser- 
vice, what other preparation is needed ? 

Again, it is said, he is prevented from maintaining 
himself, because much of his time must be taken up 
in visiting the sick, catechising children, and perform- 
ing various Christian duties among the members of his 
congregation. Now, he should certainly be active in 
doing these things, in common with other members of 
the church — they are not required of him alone. We 
cannot conceive how any are excluded from the per- 
formance of the social and religious duties so plainly 
enjoined by the gospel, and we see no reason why a 
minister should be compensated for performing them, 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 73 

more than any other member of the church. Wherever 
Christianity accomplishes the most practical good in 
any community, it will be found to be the result of 
faithfulness to these duties, on the part of the greatest 
number of the individuals composing it. 

This is our idea of Christianity; and we therefore 
suggest, that instead of expecting or requiring the 
minister to fulfil these duties for all his congregation, 
the labor shall be so divided that every member shall 
perform his and her own part, and thus comply with 
the command : " Bear ye one another's burdens, and so 
fulfil the law of Christ." We see no reason, therefore, 
why the Christian minister should not engage, as Paul 
did, in some ordinary business, and provide a mainte- 
nance for himself by his own labor. There is nothing 
in the employment of the farmer, the mechanic, or the 
merchant, if honestly followed, that would conflict in 
the least with the duties required of the minister of 
the gospel. On the other hand, by engaging in some 
such occupation, he would have a better opportunity 
of exhibiting to the world the practical application of 
the doctrines of the gospel, by bringing them into closer 
connection with the every day affairs of life, It is in 
man's every day intercourse with the world, that Chris- 
tian example is wanted ; it is here that religion can 
exercise its mightiest influence for good, by establishing 
honesty and integrity upon substantial foundations, 
and checking the inordinate gratification of a worldly 
spirit. The Christian minister ought, therefore, by 
example, as well as by precept, to teach others how to 
live in the world, and overcome it. As this is accom- 
plished, the necessity for pulpit preaching will be pro- 
portionally lessened. 



74 DISSERTATION ON THE 

Beside all this, the appointment of one man to exer- 
cise the functions of a minister for a whole congrega- 
tion, is no improvement upon the practice of apostolic 
times. In the early Christian assemblies, the liberty 
of the gospel was better understood and appreciated. 
There was no such monopoly of the gifts of the Spirit, 
for these were exercised by different individuals, to the 
common edification. None were prohibited from speak- 
ing who felt that they had a " doctrine" or a " revela- 
tion" to deliver. This is plain from Paul's Epistle to 
the Corinthians : " Let the prophets speak two or three, 
and let the others judge. If any thing be revealed to 
another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For 
ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, 
and all may be comforted." 1 Cor. xiv. 

There is reason to fear that the practice of selecting 
one man to officiate in the capacity of a minister for a 
particular church, has a tendency to lessen the indi- 
vidual responsibility of the members composing it. 
The idea is easily entertained that the employment of 
a person to attend to their spiritual interests, releases 
them in some degree from the necessity of attending to 
them for themselves. That it creates false notions of 
worship, is apparent from the fact that, in many con- 
gregations, the presence and labors of the minister are 
considered essential to its performance. Jesus spoke 
of worship as an act of the soul. " God is a Spirit, 
and they who worship him must worship in spirit and 
in truth." This is something so different from the 
popular, fashionable worship of the present age, that it 
cannot fail to strike the notice of every sincere-minded 
Christian. 

The ideas of worship which many entertain lead 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 75 

them into outward ceremonial acts and observances 
that can be imitated and performed by the worshipper 
of Mammon as well as by the worshipper of God. 
Hence a whole assembly, made up of worldly-minded 
and spiritually-minded people, often join hi what they 
call the worship of the Deity. This is objectionable, 
and may lead to hypocrisy. As an eloquent sermon, 
a well-repeated prayer, the melody of sounds, or the 
bowing of the knee, can add nothing to the glory of 
God, because His attributes are infinite and perfect 
without aid from his creatures, it is manifest that 
nothing can be regarded as true worship of Him which 
does not better the condition of the worshipper. His 
blessing rests on the "pure in heart," the "meek," 
the "merciful," the "peace-maker," and those who 
really " hunger and thirst after righteousness." 

If the outward Jewish ritual, with all its ceremonies, 
its temple, priests, altars, and sacrifices, could not, as 
the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, " make 
him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the 
conscience," how can we expect, under the Christian 
system, to be benefitted by similar observances, or 
brought by these into union with God ? If, on the 
other hand, we know an inward purification of heart — 
a sin that easily besets us subdued — a turbulent pas- 
sion conquered — a victory obtained over the "lust of 
the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," by 
our own mental labor, aided by an inward grace, — 
then, indeed, we have approached nearer to the Father 
of Lights, benefitted ourselves, and worshipped him in 
spirit and in truth. 

The popular ideas concerning the duties of the 
Christian minister tend to lessen this individual labor, 



76 DISSERTATION ON THE 

and make the worship of the Deity consist more in 
metaphysical discourses concerning religion, than the 
practice of religion itself — more in the externals of 
devotion than in humility and self-denial. 

If we look into the professing Christian church, we 
find the world is there, with her representatives, as 
much so as she was in the ancient temple at Jerusalem ; 
but we do not always find the Christian minister fol- 
lowing Jesus' great example in overturning the " tables 
of the money-changers and the seats of them that sold 
doves," because he finds it his interest to countenance 
a worldly spirit. 

The erection of magnificent and costly churches in 
the midst of communities where poverty and want are 
imploringly staring affluence and extravagance in the 
face, and asking for food and raiment, seems to us to 
be incompatible with the spirit and objects of the gos- 
pel ; yet it is no uncommon thing for Christian minis- 
ters to be employed, for the purpose of increasing the 
■revenues of these establishments. 

It was one of the proofs which Jesus gave of the 
divine authority of his mission, that the " gospel ivas 
preached to the poor" — but when an eloquent and man- 
made ministry is required — when the church herself 
conforms to the spirit of the world by wearing its out- 
ward emblems of grandeur, — it is found more expe- 
dient and profitable to address the gospel to the rich. 

Human learning and eloquence, more than intrinsic 
moral worth, are often the stepping-stones to a fash- 
ionable pulpit. A salaried ministry is tempted by a 
popular " call," and those who contribute most to its 
support are often promoted to a high position in the 
church, and courted as her worthiest members, in the 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 77 

absence of that humble and self-denying life, which 
would make them what Jesus said such should be, 
U the light of the world." 

It was said in the olden time, " The rich and the 
poor meet together ; the Lord is the maker of them 
all." It is not so now. In our large and populous 
cities, it is customary to have fashionable places of 
worship, in which an odious distinction is made between 
the rich and the poor. 

These costly edifices, like the heathen temples of 
antiquity, are made attractive to the world. An 
eloquent preacher is employed to draw a crowded 
audience. The newspapers announce, that " the Rev. 

has accepted a call to preach at the 

church. He is an eloquent minister, and those who 
are fond of pulpit oratory, should not fail to attend — 
the music is especially fine." 

The richly-decorated pew is sold under the hammer 
to the highest bidder; he who has the most money 
may secure the best seat, while the poor, if they are 
admitted at all, must be satisfied to remain in some 
remote corner. Thus the church assumes the character 
of a market-place, in which the gospel is offered to 
those only who have the money to buy it, and is made 
as much an article of commerce as a bushel of wheat 
or a bale of cotton. In apostolic times, such distinc- 
tions in the church between the rich and the poor were 
not allowable ; at least we infer so from the epistle of 
James : " My brethren, if there come into your assem- 
bly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel ; and 
there come in also a poor man in vile raiment: And 
ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, 
and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place ; and 



78 DISSERTATION ON THE 

say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my 
footstool : Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and 
are become judges of evil thoughts ? Ye have despised 
the poor." 

These evils cannot be cured until the church and 
the ministry cease to make merchandise of the 
gospel, return to their first love, and practically hold 
out the invitation, " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come 
ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come 
ye, buy and eat ! Yea, come, buy wine and milk, 
without money and without price" 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE BIBLE AND THE MINISTRY. 

It is the theological opinion of many sincere persons 
that there is now no direct communication of the will 
of God or of His truth to man ; that all the revelation 
He has intended for mankind is contained in the Bible, 
which they suppose was written by men peculiarly 
inspired for the purpose. They contend that the Bible 
is the inspired and infallible word of God — that it 
alone, of all books, was written by divine inspiration, 
which ceased when the last writer laid down his pen. 
They maintain that the Bible is the primary rule of 
faith, and only correct standard of religious doctrine 
and belief — that the Christian minister must therefore 
study it — make his theology strictly conform to its 
teachings — rely on it to expound the doctrine he 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 79 

preaches, and especially to employ it in defending his 
own particular creed against the objections of opposing 
sects. 

We believe this theory to be erroneous upon the* 
following considerations : — 

1. It ascribes a peculiar inspiration to the Bible 
which the writers of it do not claim. They nowhere 
tell us that they alone were inspired men, or that they 
always wrote from divine inspiration. We have no 
evidence that they ever contemplated their writings 
would be used by succeeding ages, as a substitute for 
the immediate and inward teaching of the spirit. The 
Scripture writings cannot be, in strictness of speech, 
called the word of God. They are essentially historical 
records, that have been written by various individuals 
at different times, which, among many statements of 
mere human history, contain the sayings and expe- 
riences of men in times very remote from our own, in 
relation to the dealings of God to mankind. Had they 
been intended as an infallible rule to all ages, they 
would have been preserved from corruption by a divine 
interposition ; but so far from this, we find they are 
precisely in the same condition as other books written 
by men — their accuracy dejoends alone on the care 
man has taken to preserve them in their integrity from 
mutilations, or even absolute,destruction. To say that 
God has left all the revelations he has intended for 
mankind so entirely to the mercy of men, is to assert 
what our ideas of the benevolence of the Creator and 
the fallibility of the creature will not permit us to 
believe. 

2. If the Bible is the only revelation of God to man- 
kind, it follows that there can be no knowledge of 



80 DISSERTATION ON THE 

Him without it, no proof of his existence, where it 
has not been seen or read. Upon this theory, there- 
fore, the greater part of mankind would be placed be- 
yond the reach of his providence, because, from cir- 
cumstances over which they have had no control, they 
have never had access to it. Some ministers of the 
Calvinistic school have entered into arithmetical calcu- 
lations on this subject, and pretend to say that, from 
this cause, millions of human beings go, annually, to 
eternal perdition 1 1 1 This terrific statement, however, 
is wholly refuted by the Bible itself, which says, " The 
grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath appeared 
unto all men" and that the Creator permits not even 
" a sparrow to fall without his notice." 

3. The Bible does not serve the purpose of a satis- 
factory and adequate standard of religious belief. For, 
while all the different sects among Christians insist 
that it is the true standard, they differ widely in many 
points as regards its true interpretation and meaning. 
It has never settled any theological question to the 
satisfaction of all those who claim it as authority for 
their opinions. Men, equally conscientious and sin- 
cere — of reflecting minds and blameless lives — have 
entertained the most opposite opinions respecting the 
meaning of Scripture. If we ask whose opinion of the 
Bible shall prevail, every .sect answers — ours. 

Who is to settle the meaning of Scripture in the 
controversy between the Jews and Christians, respect- 
ing the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning 
the Messiah ? 

Who is to determine the exact value and meaning 
of those texts concerning transubstantiation, confession 
of sins, extreme unction, the authority of the church, &c, 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 81 

hi the disputes which have arisen between the Catho- 
lics and Protestants ? Who shall decide upon the 
meaniug of Scripture in the endless controversies 
among Protestants themselves ? 

The Church of England differs from other Protestant 
sects in its understanding of Scripture respecting the 
organization of the clergy. The Calvinists and Armi- 
nians hold entirely contradictory opinions as to the 
meaning of the Bible on the- subjects of election and 
reprobation. The Trinitarian and the Unitarian are 
as wide apart in their views of it as the two poles of 
the earth. The Universalists, Presbyterians, Baptists. 
Methodists, Quakers, &c, all have their separate un- 
derstanding of the meaning of Scripture, upon various 
theological questions, as to what is sound doctrine and 
correct church discipline. Upon a variety of subjects 
mentioned hi the Bible, uniformity of opinion has 
never existed among reflecting people — nor do we 
think it ever will. 

Not only have its doctrines been differently under- 
stood by different religious sects, but at one period the 
mass of the clergy themselves have attached a mean- 
ing to its teachings which they have entirely aban- 
doned at another. The very order of men who profess 
to have the Bible as their guide, but who have not 
always had the modesty to think that others could be 
as honest and sincere as themselves, have vehemently 
opposed discoveries of science, upon the ground that 
they conflicted with the sacred record, and are still the 
first to wage war against every new fact of natural 
history which demands a surrender of preconceived 
Scriptural opinions. Thus, the early astronomers 
were met by the clergy, and their newly-discovered 
6 



82 DISSERTATION ON THE 

doctrine of the earth's motion denounced as " absurd 
in philosophy, heretical in religion, and contrary to the 
Scriptures." In more recent times, geology encoun- 
tered a storm of opposition from the same quarter, on 
the ground that it conflicted with the Mosaic account 
of the creation and a universal deluge. 

There being no established understanding of the 
Bible on many subjects of which it speaks, the clergy 
have been at liberty to denounce certain opinions as 
unsound and heretical at one time, which they teach 
to be orthodox at another. It is mortifying, however, 
to reflect that they are so ready to oppose their under- 
standing of the Bible to the discoveries of philosophy, 
or object to read the record of the earth's physical 
history and its inhabitants, where nature has faithfully 
recorded it through all the descending path of time. 
They ought to know that, whenever science and dog- 
matism come in conflict, the former must triumph. 
Science, relying upon fact, and not upon faith, builds 
her temple upon a rock, against which the storms of 
false theology will ever beat in vain. 

Now, if the Bible is the only standard of religious 
belief, why, we ask, are not all theological disputes at 
once tried by it and ended ? why is it not so plain that 
all can understand it alike ? The truth is, there is 
this discrepancy between the profession and the prac- 
tice of those who insist that the Bible is the standard 
of religious belief — it is only so in theory ; in practice, 
they adopt an understanding of it by an act of private 
judgment. It is the height of human folly to enforce 
a uniform belief in the Scripture writings. The right 
of private judgment constitutes the main pillar of reli- 
gious liberty, and should not only be preserved invio- 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 83 

late, but should be universally respected and cherished 
in the mind of every Christian. No man, or body of 
men, can, therefore, with any authority, insist that his 
or their understanding of Scripture shall bind the con- 
sciences of all others. And if men may rightfully and 
conscientiously entertain different views of the Bible, 
where is its value as a universal standard ? The value 
of a standard consists in its being everywhere under- 
stood alike and to mean the same thing. For instance, 
we have a standard of weight, in which sixteen ounces 
everywhere make a pound : but if sixteen ounces made 
a pound in New York, fourteen in Philadelphia, and 
some other number in Baltimore, its value would be 
destroyed for all purposes where a universal standard 
is required. So, if the Catholic and the Protestant, 
the Calvinist and the Arminian, the Trinitarian and 
the Unitarian, all have their different views and unr 
der standing of the Bible, it is plain that it does not 
answer the purpose of a satisfactory and adequate 
standard of religious belief. 

4. The Bible, as we now have it, in passing through 
the hands of numerous copyists, translators, and com- 
mentators, has been, in some instances unavoidably, 
and in others intentionally, corrupted; so as to throw 
great doubt and uncertainty upon the genuineness of 
many parts, which involve questions of theological 
speculation. 

That the Bible has come down to us in a very im- 
perfect and mutilated condition, is a fact well known 
to every one familiar with its origin and history. The 
following quotations from learned writers will show 
that it has assumed its present form under circum- 
stances unfavorable to the preservation and integrity 



84 DISSERTATION ON THE 

of the text. The greater part of the Old Testament 
was written in the Hebrew language, which ceased to 
be spoken, and only existed as a learned and written 
language after the exile of the Jews. 1 

The first translation into Greek is known as the 
Septuagint, or Alexandria version. This version was 
not all made at once, nor by the same hand. 2 The 
most that we can ascertain is, that it was the produc- 
tion of some Alexandrian Jews, made between the years 
b. c. 250, and b. c. 150. 

"As a whole, this version is chargeable with a want 
of literalness, and also with an arbitrary method, 
whereby something foreign to the text is brought in. 
In general, it betrays the want of an accurate acquaint- 
ance with the Hebrew language, though it furnishes 
many good explanations." 3 

Eichhorn says : " From the time of the birth of Christ 
to that of Origen, the text of the Alexandrian version 
was lamentably disfigured by arbitrary alterations, inter- 
polations, omissions, and mistakes." 4 

In the time of the learned Origen, (the second cen- 
tury,) we find him complaining of the corruptions 
manifest in the Greek manuscripts then existing. He 
says : " But now there is obviously a great diversit}' 
of the copies, which has arisen either from the negli- 
gence of some transcribers, or from the boldness of 
others, — as well as from the difficulty of correcting 
what was written, — or from others still, who added or 
took away, as they saw fit, in making their correc- 
tions." 5 

1 De Wette — Introduction to the Old Testament. 

2 De Wette, vol. i., p. 144. 3 Ibid, vol. i., p. 147. 
4 Ibid, vol. i., p. 166. 5 Ibid, vol. i., p. 165. 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 85 

" In the time of Jerome, three different editions of 
the Septuagint were in use under the sanction of the 
several churches, and with their authority. No wonder 
the existing manuscripts have come down to us with 
so many corruptions." * Jerome says : " The common 
edition is different, in different places, all the world 
over." And again : " It is corrupted everywhere, to 
meet the views of the place and time, or the caprice of 
transcribers." 2 

In the time of Augustine there were several Latin 
versions of the Bible. Jerome, in speaking of these, 
says : " If faith is to be placed in the Latin books, 
there are almost as many books as copies. For every 
man has added or subtracted, according to his own 
caprice, as he saw fit." 3 This was in the fourth cen- 
tury. Notwithstanding the efforts of Origen, Jerome, 
and other learned men, to correct the text — notwith- 
standing the numerous direct and indirect versions that 
were from time to time made, we find in the twelfth 
century, "Cardinal Nicolaus, deacon of St. Damasus, 
and a good Hebrew scholar," undertook to make a new 
emendation of the Yulgate. He says : " Looking over 
the libraries, I was unable to find any correct copies 
of the Scriptures ; for even those which were said to 
be corrected by the most learned men, differed so much 
from one another, that I found almost as many different 
manuscripts as copies." 4 

" Roger Bacon, in his epistle to Clement IV., speaks 
of the rashness with which corrections were made in 
the text. Every reader, even in the lower order of 
the clergy, corrects as he pleases ; and the same is done 

1 De Wette, vol. i., p. 180. 2 Ibid, vol. i., p. 181. 

3 Ibid, vol. i. 3 p. 185. * Ibid, vol. i., p. 275. 



86 DISSERTATION ON THE 

by the preachers. . . . Each one changes what he 
does not understand. But the preachers, especially, 
have thrust themselves in, to aid in this correction ; 
and now for twenty years and more, they have pre- 
sumed to make their own corrections, and insert them 
in the Scripture. But afterwards they make new 
alterations to contradict the old, and now others vacil- 
late still more from their predecessors, not knowing 
where they are. From this cause, their correction is 
the worst of corruptions, and God's text is destroyed." l 

Various attempts were made at different times, and 
by different persons, to restore the text of both the 
Old and the New Testament. Ecclesiastical councils 
pronounced certain books as canonical, and rejected 
others as apocryphal ; and in some instances what one 
council received as correct and authentic, another re- 
jected as unsound and spurious. In this way nume- 
rous editions of the Bible were made, each one claiming 
to be the true "word of God." It has been ascertained 
that at the time of the invention of printing, there 
were then preserved in various parts of Christendom, 
at least six hundred Hebrew manuscripts of the Old 
Testament, 2 and four hundred and sixty -nine Greek 
manuscripts of the New Testament, 3 without specify- 
ing those in the Samaritan, Syriac, and other lan- 
guages. When these copies began to be multiplied 
by the art of printing, care was not taken to select the 
text from the best or most ancient manuscripts. 

"It has been fully ascertained that the text of our 
first printed Bibles was not derived from the best or 

1 De Wette, vol. i., p. 276. 

2 Kennicott, Bib. Heb. Dis. Gen., 70. 

3 Michselis Com. by Marsh, vol. ii. ; p. 834. 



CHRIST I AX MINISTRY. 87 

the most ancient manuscripts of the Scripture pre- 
served in Christendom, and as little amendment has 
been made since, it is now an important duty to cor- 
rect what the first editors of our printed Bibles were 
unable to do." 1 

In the year 1603, owing to the numerous errors in 
the various translations in common use, fifty-four of 
the most learned graduates of the Universities of 
Oxford and Cambridge were appointed to make a new 
translation, seven of whom died before the work was 
completed. Of the forty-seven translators who made 
the edition of the Bible now in common use, no one 
claims, as they did not themselves, that they depended 
upon a divine inspiration to assist them in the pro- 
gress of their labors ; and our first inquiry should be, 
from what materials did they compile the Bible, and 
how did they make the corrections ? A learned writer 
has said of these forty-seven translators : " It is well 
known that there was not a critical Hebrew scholar 
among them ; the Hebrew language, so indispensably 
necessary for the accomplishment of this important 
work, having been most shamefully neglected in our 
Universities. ... It appears they confined them- 
selves to the Septuagint (Greek), and the Vulgate 
(Latin) ; so that this was only working in the harness 
of the old translators : no translation, (excepting per- 
haps Luther's, 1530-1 54 5,) from the original Hebrew 
only, having been made for 1400 years. ... If we 
turn to the translations made in the early ages of the 
Christian Church, we approach no nearer the truth; 
for as the common translations in the European lan- 
guage were made from the modern Septuagint and the 

1 McCulloh on the Credibility of the Scriptures, vol. i., p. 261. 



88 DISSERTATION ON THE 

Vulgate, where errors are found in these early versions, 
they must necessarily be found in all the translations 
made from them." x 

We learn from other sources, 2 how at once on its 
first appearance, objections were raised against its accu- 
racy in England. In 1753, the voice of the learned 
Dr. Kennicott 3 was heard protesting against the per- 
petuation of fallacies which the forty-seven translators' 
ignorance of Hebrew had spread over the land through 
King James' version. 

After setting forth the causes of mistaken renderings 
in King James' version, he says : "A new translation, 
therefore, prudently undertaken and religiously exe- 
cuted, is a blessing, which we make no doubt but the 
Legislature within a few years will grant us." Six 
years later, finding his petition unheeded, he comes 
out boldly against the " authorized version," backing 
his appeal with numerous examples where the forty- 
seven had, in consequence of their ignorance of Hebrew, 
palmed off for genuine inspiration, the errors and forge- 
ries of previous copyists and translators, and in some 
instances made the " authorized version" read directly 
the reverse of the original. Thus, for instance, in 
translating the 109th psalm, the forty-seven have made 
David utter such fearful imprecations against his foes; 
when in the original Hebrew, he is actually complain- 
ing that his enemies are heaping these outrageous 
male dictions upon himself. 4 

1 Bellamy. The Holy Bible newly translated from the original 
Hebrew, &c. : London, 1818. 

2 Fuller's Church History. 

3 1. Dissertation. State of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament : 
Oxford, 1753. 

4 II. Dissertation by Kennicott: Oxford, 1759. 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 89 

Reader, these things were not done in a corner — 
they were not said by a skeptic, but by a learned 
Hebrew scholar — a Church of England divine and pro- 
fessor of Exeter College. A cotemporary writer says 
of Dr. Kennicott: "In the year 1753, he laid the 
foundation of that stupendous monument of learned 
industry, at which the wise and good will gaze with 
admiration, when the cavils of prejudice and envy and 
ingratitude shall no longer be heard. This he did by 
publishing his first dissertation on the state of the 
printed Hebrew text, in which he proposed to over- 
throw the then prevailing notion of its absolute inte- 
grity. In 1760, he issued proposals for collating all 
the Hebrew manuscripts prior to the invention of 
printing, which could be found in Great Britain and 
Ireland, and for procuring at the same time as many 
collations of foreign manuscripts of note as the time 
and money he should receive would enable him to 
procure. If we consider that above six hundred manu- 
scripts of the Old Testament Hebrew were collated, 
and that the whole work occupied twenty years of Dr. 
Kennicott's life, it must be owned that sacred criticism 
is more indebted to him than to any other scholar of 
his age." 1 

Since the time of Dr. Kennicott, many eminent 
scholars have urged the necessity of a new translation 
of the Bible. We quote the following from a long list 
of good authorities : — 

" Whoever examines our version in present use, will 
find that it is ambiguous and incorrect even in matters 
of the highest importance." 2 

" The common English translation, though the best 

1 Ency. Brit,, vol. 12, p. 692. 7th ed. 2 Prof. Symond, 1789. 



90 DISSERTATION ON THE 

I have seen, is capable of being brought, in several 
places, nearer the original." * 

" No less than 30,000 various readings of the Old 
and New Testament have been discovered .... the 
Sacred Scriptures have in this case suffered the same 
fate as other productions of antiquity. ... In the last 
220 years, critical learning has so much improved, and 
so many new manuscripts have come to light, as to call 
for a revision of the present authorized version." 2 

" One painful conviction is, that the plain import of 
the word of God has been most fantastically, ignorantly, 
and wilfully perverted, as well in the translation as in 

the interpolations Many gross perversions, not 

to say mistranslations, of the sacred text, have been 
occasioned by dogmatical prejudices and sectarian 
zeal." 3 

Now, it is evident that King James' version, pub- 
lished in 1611, and by an act of Parliament " autho- 
rized to be read in churches," the translation now in 
common use, is radically and seriously corrupt. It 
cannot be relied on with any absolute certainty in 
many parts, and in some instances " in matters of the 
highest importance." Several Christian sects are now 
agitating the question of a new translation and revision 
of the Scriptures with much earnestness and zeal. We 
rejoice to see it, because we believe that the Bible 
might be greatly improved by a new translation, 
although it never can be entirely corrected, since the 
original autographs of its writers have in no instance 
survived the ruins of time. 

1 Wesley. 2 Sears' History of the Bible : 1844. 

3 John Oxley. Letters to the Archbishop of Canterbury : London, 
1845. 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 91 

These facts prove that the Bible is not the inspired 
and infallible word of God — for the " Word of God" is 
perfect, and admits of no emendation. 

A new translation of the Bible, however, must be 
left to science ; for, so long as it is entrusted to the 
clergy, no improvement or advance will be likely to be 
made. 

Generally speaking, the clergy are too much inter- 
ested in defending the peculiar theological views of the 
different religious sects, to admit of a harmonious labor 
in this important undertaking. Many of the popular 
creeds and ecclesiastical establishments have been 
built up on the presumed correctness of the present 
translation. All sects have some favorite texts to 
defend, which they are fearful a new translation may 
differently construe, and thus unsettle their sectarian 
opinions, or oblige them to admit that they have been 
in error. 

" To change the terms or texts of Scripture that 
have been heretofore used as the basis for ecclesiastical 
institutions, or theological assumptions concerning 
divine truths, are shocks too violent either for the 
pride or the self-interests of men, to acquiesce in 
willingly." l 

Dr. Yicesimus Knox, of the Church of England, says, 
" For my part, if I may venture to give an opinion 
contrary to that of the profound collators of the Hebrew 
manuscripts, I cannot help thinking a new translation 
of the Bible an attempt extremely dangerous and quite 
unnecessary. Instead of serving the cause of religion, 
which is the ostensible motive for the wish, I am con- 

1 McCulloh. Credibility of the Scriptures, vol. i. p. 283. 



92 DISSERTATION ON THE 

vinced that nothing would tend more immediately to 
shake the basis of the Establishment" (i. e., the Church 
of England) . " Time gives a venerable air to all 
things ; sacred things acquire peculiar sanctity by long 
duration." l Such are the sentiments and the fears of 
the clergy generally. 

The absurdity of requiring the Christian minister to 
make his theological views correspond with the present 
translation, is best illustrated by an example, and we 
give one which came under our notice. A minister 
quoted 1 Timothy, iii. 16, which, in the English trans- 
lation, reads, " God was manifest in the flesh." This 
seemed to favor his theological opinion, and he em- 
bellished it with all the eloquence at his command 
to prove the doctrine that God became incarnate in 
the nature of man, boldly asserting that this was 
plainly declared and enforced by the text. 

Now the word God, in this passage, is an interpola- 
tion. M'Culloh says, "On referring to the ancient 
manuscripts of the New Testament, instead of such 
reading, we find in them all the word, ' which was 
manifest in the flesh/ All the ancient manuscripts, 
therefore, are against the reading of our printed Bibles. 
The Latin Testament, or Vulgate, and the Syriac, the 
two most ancient translations of the New Testament, 
agree with the ancient Greek manuscripts. Not a 
single father in the church, down to the fifth century, 
ever quoted such passage of Scripture, through all their 
furious contests with the Arians, in which every text 
having the least bearing on the subject, was quoted." 2 

Again : how often has the text, 1 John, v. vii., 

1 Annual Obituary, VI., 352. 

2 Credibility of Scripture, vol. i. p. 268. 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 93 

" There are three that bear record in heaven, the Fa- 
ther, the Word, and the Holy Ghost : and these three 
are one," been quoted in defence of the same dogma, 
by those who have not known the fact, that this text 
is a forgery and interpolation. Surely, it is a folly to 
insist that the Christian minister shall make his theo- 
logical views agree in all respects with the Bible in its 
present mutilated condition. 

5. But the Bible has not only been corrupted by 
translators and transcribers, so as to throw doubts on 
the genuineness of many parts ; in its historical nar- 
rations, there are contradictions and inaccuracies 1 
which destroy a claim to their divine authenticity. 
In some places, fact and fiction have been so intimately 
blended, that it is impossible to decide where one ends 
and the other begins. Hence those parts which have 
a miraculous or mythological coloring, must be received 
with great caution, and in some instances wholly 
rejected. 

Again : the writers held and expressed opinions on 
some subjects which are now well known to be erro- 
neous. For instance, it is clear that the Scripture 
writers held the same cosmical views with regard to 
the structure of the world which were common amons: 
men till the time of Copernicus. For doubting the 
correctness of these opinions of the Scripture writers, 
the learned Giordano Bruno was burnt at Eome, in 
1600 ; 2 and, sixteen years later, for the same cause, 
the celebrated Galileo was condemned as a heretic. 3 

Now, no one acquainted with the subject, pretends 

1 See De Wette's Introduction to the Old Testament. 

2 Humboldt's Cosmos, vol. iii., p. 17. 

3 Encyc. Brit., vol. x., p. 291. 



94 DISSERTATION ON THE 

to doubt the Copernican theory of the universe ; 
how then, we ask in all humility, could opinions so 
diametrically opposite to what we kriow to be true, 
ever have been dictated by divine inspiration ? 

Again : the moral precepts of the Old Testament 
differ from the moral teachings of the New. The law 
which came by Moses, and the gospel preached by Jesus 
are streams so different in their character, as to exclude 
the probability that they proceeded from the same 
fountain. The gospel calls men to perfection. The 
law made nothing perfect as pertaining to the con- 
science. The law addresses the animal ; the gospel, the 
spiritual nature of man. One, appealing to carnal 
passions and lusts, led through fields of carnage and 
blood to an outward Canaan — its advocates took the 
sword, and they perished by the sword. The other, 
by the subjugation of the same passions and lusts, 
seeks to beat the sword into a ploughshare, and culti- 
vates a different order of things, in a new heaven and 
a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. One 
represents God as approving war, the other as the 
Author of "peace on earth and good will to men." 
One teaches men to hate their enemies ; the other, to 
love them. 

If the precepts of the law be of equal inspiration 
with the precepts of the gospel — if the Jews were as 
divinely commanded to hate and destroy their enemies 
as the Christians are to love and forgive them, it fol- 
lows, as a matter of course, that within the period 
assigned for these different commands, the Divine cha- 
racter underwent a most remarkable change — an abso- 
lute metamorphosis, of which no Pythagorean philoso- 
pher ever dreamed. We cannot believe that a Being 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 95' 

whose attributes are unchangeable and infinite, ever 
gave a command which he afterwards contradicted. 

Instead of ascribing any such change in the Divine 
Being, or the moral law which He has given for the 
guidance of man, how much more rational to conclude, 
that the difference between the precepts of the law and 
the precepts of the gospel, arises from the latter having 
been dictated by clearer perceptions of the nature of 
God. 

Those who have represented the Deity as subject 
to the passions of men — as approving of war — as 
cursing the earth — drowning its inhabitants with a 
flood — as hardening the human heart — as being pleased 
with musical sounds — as requiring outward sacrifice — 
as repenting of his own actions — were mistaken in 
their opinions concerning him. 

Against such notions, which are essentially pagan 
in their character, the divine doctrines of Jesus array 
themselves with irresistible force. Christianity repre- 
sents the Supreme Creator, as a Universal Benefactor. 
It proclaims the sublime truth, that "God is love." 
Hence, Jesus set at naught all the false teachings of 
the law. He appealed to a fact in the outward crea- 
tion, more convincing than a miracle, to prove the 
goodness of the Creator — a fact which existed in the 
days of Moses, just as it did then, and which is plain 
to our observation note, that God " maketh his sun to 
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the 
just and on the unjust?' If, then, in the face of the 
same unalterable evidences of His goodness which are 
presented to us, men have presumptuously or igno- 
rantly ascribed to the Creator feelings of vengeance 
and hostility towards mankind, we cannot receive their 



96 DISSERTATION ON THE 

testimony as truly defining the Divine Perfections, 
unless we can first persuade ourselves that the asser- 
tions and opinions of fallible men are of higher autho- 
rity than the Deity and his works, as exhibited in the 
economy of the outward creation. Nay, rather than 
distrust the evidence which was adduced by Jesus to 
convince the Jews of their error, and is as plain to us, 
right reason will compel us to say, with an eminent 
apostle, " Let God be true, and every man a liar." 
The Old Testament writings are almost exclusively a 
historical narrative of a single family or nation of 
people, who, notwithstanding they had many enlight- 
ened prophets and teachers, who inculcated the true 
idea of an unchangeable God, were nevertheless a 
people peculiar for their perverseness — their supersti- 
tion — their proneness to idolatry. Being men of like 
passions and frailties as other men, they incorporated 
with their theological system many of the erroneous 
opinions then prevailing among mankind, and thus 
were liable to perverted views of the Divine nature. 

The Jews conceived that they were the peculiar 
objects of divine favor and regard. Entertaining this 
opinion, they became selfish, and hostile to all the 
nations around them, with whom they constantly em- 
broiled themselves, under the plea that they were 
divinely commissioned to effect their extermination. 
It cannot fail to strike the careful reader of their his- 
tory, how frequently they committed the grave error 
of claiming a divine sanction of their conduct, even 
when their actions contradicted the statutes of Moses, 
and also their own conduct, on other occasions. 

A few examples will illustrate our remarks, though 
we might select many of a similar character. 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 97 

In the 20th chapter of Judges, we have an account 
of an exterminating war pursued by the Jews against 
one of their own tribes, in which sixty-five thousand 
lives were sacrificed. The writer tells us that they 
asked counsel of God, and received an answer to go on 
with the battle. They believed they were fighting by 
divine command — yet they afterwards found they had 
deceived themselves, and were actuated only by the 
most wicked and malignant passions. 

The Jews desired a king to rule over them. They 
were expressly told by one of their prophets that this 
did not meet the Divine approbation, in this language : 
" Your wickedness is great which you have done in 
the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king." 1 Samuel 
xii. 17. They repent of their folly, and say, " We 
have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a 
king." Verse 19. Afterwards we find the same prophet 
saying to Saul, " The Lord sent me to anoint thee, to 
be king over Israel." 1 Samuel xv. 1. From which 
they make it appear that the Divine Being now 
approved of their having one. Finding the experiment 
of king-making did not succeed agreeably to their 
wishes, they then reject the disobedient monarch, and 
say (verse 35), "And the Lord repented that he had 
made Saul king over Israel." 

In Exodus xx. 24, &c, the writer tells us that 
the Almighty gave to Moses a specific direction how 
to make an altar for burnt sacrifices : " An altar of 
earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice 
thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, 
thy sheep and thine oxen. In all places where I 
record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless 
thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, 
7 



98 DISSERTATION ON THE 

thou shalt not build it of hevm stone ; for if thou lift up 
thy tool 'upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt 
thou go up by steps unto my altar, that thy nakedness 
be not discovered thereon." 

Moses communicates this intelligence to the Israel- 
ites, and enjoins upon them by an express command- 
ment, that they shall observe it in every part, in this 
language, " Ye shall not add unto the word which I 
command you ; neither shall ye diminish aught from 
it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord 
your God which I command you." Deut. iv. 2, and 
Deut. xii. 32. Moses also says that he gave exact 
directions for the construction of the altar and taber- 
nacle according to the pattern shown him on the 
Mount. Exod. xxv. 9-40, and xxvi. 30. Now it 
would seem to be doubtful, after such plain direc- 
tions, that Jehovah would give another and entirely a 
different plan to the same people concerning the erec- 
tion of altars. 

We find, however, when Solomon built the temple, 
that, instead of following the pattern shown to Moses, 
and by him communicated to the Jews, to make an 
altar of earth, or of unhewn stone — without steps to 
go up to it — five cubits square, and three cubits high 
(Exod. xxvii. 1), he made an immense brazen altar, 
"twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten 
cubits high (2 Chron. iv. 1) ; requiring steps to go up 
to it, with many other variations from the plain direc- 
tions of Moses. Notwithstanding all this, we are told 
by the writer of 1 Chron. xxviii., that David gave So- 
lomon the plan of the temple, " and the pattern of all 
he had by the spArit" as if implying a Divine direction ; 
and in the nineteenth verse of the same chapter, it is 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 99 

stated, "All this," said David, "the Lord made me un- 
derstand in writing by his hand upon me, even all 
the works of this pattern." 

Another glaring departure from the command given 
by Moses, " Ye shall not add unto the word which I 
command you" (Deut. iv. 2), was practised by David, 
when he undertook, by his own authority, to appoint 
persons to sing praises to the Creator, accompanied by 
the use of various musical instruments. This was an 
innovation never authorized by the Divine Being as a 
part of the worship he required. The first account we 
have of it is in 1 Chron. xv. 16, where it is repre- 
sented to be an invention of David. 

Yet we are told by the writer of 2 Chron. xix. 25, 
that among other things which king Hezekiah did in 
restoring the institutions of Moses, was to "set the 
Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with 
psalteries, and with harps, according to the command- 
ment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Na- 
than the prophet; for so was the commandment of the 
Lord hy his prophets? Thus an invention of man is 
transformed into a commandment of God. 

Now, if the Bible was viewed in its true light, as a 
human production, these discrepancies would be pro- 
perly allowed for, on the ground that all human works 
are liable to imperfection and error; but when a 
plenary inspiration is claimed for all its statements, 
these contradictions admit of no conceivable recon- 
ciliation. 

From these considerations, we see how necessary it 
is, in reading the Bible, to exercise our enlightened 
reason, and discriminate between truth and error, and 



100 DISSERTATION ON THE 

not read it with a blind infatuation that everything it 
contains was written by inspiration of God. 

Christians should receive the Bible for what it is 
worth — judge of it as they do of other books — be as 
ready to reject what they are convinced is error, as 
they are to believe what they are convinced is truth. 
We fully believe that there is much in it which was 
written under the influence of a divine inspiration, 
because divine inspiration now teaches the same things 
to us. We know of no book that contains so large an 
amount of valuable and instructive reading, and we 
recommend the frequent perusal of its pages in a calm 
and truth-seeking spirit. But we do not feel bound to 
endorse the errors which have crept into it. We think 
that Christian professors have been too long hood- 
winked by the delusive notion that the Bible is the 
only revelation God has made to mankind, and that 
everything within its lids was written by a divine 
inspiration. We say unhesitatingly that, so far as the 
Christian ministry employs it to justify war, oaths, 
slavery, the punishment of death, a human priesthood 
with authority to interfere with the rights of conscience, 
or any other evil that afflicts humanity, the Bible is a 
curse instead of a blessing. 

In forming their religious opinions, men are too 
much in the habit of going to the Bible, and, from its 
historical sources, to ascertain as nearly as they can 
the religious views of others upon various subjects 
which they apprehend are essential to their welfare. 
With this borrowed capital they commence their reli- 
gious structure — form their theory of religion — esta- 
blish the creed they consider most orthodox, that is, 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 101 

most in accordance with their interpretation of the 
Scriptures ; but as no two parties can understand them 
alike, we have all the conflict of opinions and strife 
of tongues which have been a reproach to the Church 
for eighteen centuries past, and may continue to dis- 
tract her peaceful councils for eighteen centuries to 
come. 

This method of demonstrating the truths of religion 
ought to be reversed. The moral law is older than 
the Bible. Its violation was always followed by self- 
condemnation, just as it is now. Adam and Cain 
understood its requirings, and when they violated it, 
they felt the punishment as keenly as any one ever 
did since the Bible was written. It is not necessary, 
therefore, to go to the Bible to know that lying, steal- 
ing, and injustice are wrong ; or that truth-telling, 
honesty, and justice are right; because the law that 
makes them so is " written in the heart." Men should 
learn the truth from its internal evidence — build their 
theory of religion upon internal convictions of right 
and wrong — and then, so far as the Bible corroborates 
their own experience, it becomes "profitable for instruc- 
tion in righteousness." 

Whatever importance, therefore, we may attach to 
the Bible, we have more need to study well that great- 
est of all records, the volume of our own experience. 
The dealings of God with us are faithfully portrayed 
in its wide-spread pages ; no translator is needed to 
make this record intelligible, because every man finds 
it written in his own language, "in the tongue in which 
he was born." 

The Christian ministry has then no need to depend 
on the Scriptures for its authority and ability. " The 



102 DISSERTATION ON THE 

letter killeth — the spirit giveth life." "As my Father 
hath taught me, so I speak" said the greatest of all 
ministers ; and had his example been faithfully imi- 
tated in this respect by those who have professed to be 
teachers of the same gospel, no apostasy would have 
marred the progress of Christianity in the earth, and 
eighteen centuries could not have rolled away, only to 
witness a small minority of mankind embracing by a 
public confession its sublime philosophy. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE MINISTRY, AND THE DOGMAS OF THE CHURCH. 

When confined to its legitimate sphere, the Christian 
ministry is doubtless a useful means of promoting truth 
and righteousness among men. But it has failed to 
produce the greatest good to mankind, from having 
lost its simplicity and originality, and been reduced too 
much to a systemized repetition of stereotyped opinions 
and sectarian dogmas, which have no reference to any 
moral obligation, nor involve any principle of practical 
Christianity. The simple truths of practical religion, 
and their application to the every day conduct of 
men, as illustrated in the teachings of Jesus, have 
been too much neglected, and considered of less im- 
portance than the promulgation of mysterious doctrines, 
or the senseless jargon of scholastic theology. 

Let us take a glance at some of the dogmas which 
have corrupted the Christian ministry, and enlisted its 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 103 

influence in their support, and we can see that so far 
from aiding the cause of practical righteousness, they 
have been attended with injurious effects, by giving 
rise to, and perpetuating, the most perplexing contro- 
versies ever since their introduction into the Christian 
Church. 

About the beginning of the fifth century, the con- 
troversy concerning predestination first made its ap- 
pearance in the Christian Church. This doctrine 
asserts, that God has, from all eternity, unchangeably 
appointed whatever comes to pass ; and has, more espe- 
cially, foreordained certain individuals to everlasting 
happiness, and others to everlasting misery. The pre- 
destinarians at first asserted, that God not only predes- 
tinated the wicked to punishment, but that he had 
also decreed that they should commit those very sins 
on account of which they are to be eternally punished , 
Attempts were subsequently made to modify the ex- 
treme rigor of this dogma, which gave rise to the most 
violent disputes, until the time of John Calvin, when 
the influence of that learned man succeeded in obtain- 
ing an approval of his views upon the subject by an 
ecclesiastical court, 1 which of course condemned his 
opponents as obstinate heretics. 

How far the doctrine was improved by Calvin, the 
reader may judge from the following extracts from the 
Westminster Confession of Faith, in 1643. 

" God from all eternity did, by the most wise and 
holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably 
ordain whatsoever comes to pass : yet so, as thereby 
neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered 
to the will of the creature, nor is the liberty or contin- 

1 The Synod of Port, 1618. 



104 DISSERTATION ON THE 

gencies of second causes taken away, but rather estar 
blislied" 

" By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his 
glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto 
everlasting life, and others are preordained to everlast- 
ing death. These angels and men, thus predestinated 
and preordained, are particularly and unchangeably 
designed ; and their number is so certain and definite, 
that it cannot be increased or diminished." 

" TJie rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to 
the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he 
extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth for the 
glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass 
by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their 
sin, to the praise of his glorious justice." 

This was a favorite doctrine of Mahommed. He 
introduced into the Koran the absolute predestination 
of all human affairs. He represented life and death, 
prosperity and adversity, with every event that befalls 
a man in this world, as the result of a previous deter- 
mination of God ; and he found this opinion the best 
engine for inspiring his followers with that contempt 
of danger, which, united to a fanatical zeal, has ex- 
tended the empire of their faith over a large part of 
the habitable globe. 1 

If, as this doctrine asserts, the number of the elect 
is so " certain and definite, that it cannot be increased 
or diminished" and that "the rest of mankind" are 
foreordained to eternal misery, neither party is under 
the slightest moral obligation to pursue a life of virtue. 

We pass from this absurd delusion, to the doctrine 
of original sin, which asserts that mankind are totally 

1 Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. xviii., p. 517. 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 105 

depraved, in consequence of the fall of the first man, 
whose sin involved the corruption of all his posterity ; 
and which corruption extends over the whole soul, and 
exposes it to the displeasure of God, both in this world 
and that which is to come. 

Calvin explains it as follows : — " Original sin seems 
to be the inheritable descending perverseness and cor- 
ruption of our nature, poured abroad into all parts of 
the soul, which first maketh us deserving of God's 
wrath, and then bringeth forth in us those works called, 
in Scripture, the works of the flesh. These two things 
are distinctly to be noted ; that is, that, being thus in 
all parts of our nature corrupted and perverted, we are 
now, even for such corruption only, holden worthy of 
damnation, and stand convicted before God." 1 

This doctrine has also given rise to endless disputes, 
in which all the disputants have appealed to the Bible 
in support of their opinions : and nothing has been 
settled. The Arminians reject the Calvinistic theory, 
and, in attempting its modification, they have darkened 
" counsel by words without knowledge," and involved 
the subject still further in mystery and absurdity. 

We cannot conceive of anything more likely to turn 
men from God, than to tell them that they are guilty 
of sins they never committed ; and, from circumstances 
over which they had no control, are convicted by Him, 
and " holden worthy of damnation." We do not be- 
lieve there is such a thing as total depravity. The 
degrees and shades of guilt may be infinite, but it is 
difficult to conceive of a human soul having committed 
every crime, and yet it requires the commission of every 

1 Buck's Theological Dictionary. 



106 DISSERTATION ON THE 

crime to reach the point of total depravity. On the 
other hand, we believe there is not a human being, 
accountable to his Maker, who is not conscious that 
there are some sins which he has not committed ; that 
this consciousness is a source of peace and quiet ; and 
that, with this single redeeming quality, there is hope 
for his ultimate recovery. Now, if the Christian min- 
istry, instead of repeating in his ear, that he is totally 
depraved, and deserves eternal condemnation, would 
cherish and encourage the good that is left ; fan the 
feeble embers of undying virtue into a flame, the gospel 
would be to him as " glad tidings of great joy." We 
think that mankind would be better than they are, 
were it not that a false theology is constantly assuring 
them that a state of evil is their natural condition. 
We think the human mind, left to its own intuitions, 
is naturally inclined to good rather than to evil; and 
that this would be much more apparent than it is, were 
it not for the low estimate that a spurious theology has 
placed upon good works. 

We have no idea of employing such terrible instru- 
mentalities as the doctrine of predestination, total de- 
pravity, and eternal punishments, to drive mankind to 
religion. We do not believe either in their efficacy, or 
consistency with the infinite benevolence of the Cre- 
ator ; but we believe they may be brought to love God, 
when God is represented to them in his true and un- 
changeable character, as the only Infinitely Wise, 
Powerful, and Benevolent Being in the universe. 

We thank Thee, Lord and Creator, for our unwa- 
vering conviction that such are thy attributes. We 
thank Thee for our better view of the race, and for 
our hope in the ultimate salvation of all thy creatures, 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 107 

to whom thou hast imparted a portion of thine own 
Infinite Spirit, and created but a little lower than the 
angels, to enjoy a blessed immortality. 

Again : look at the deplorable divisions and contro- 
versies which the doctrine of the trinity has produced. 
This dogma, which is not to be found in the teaching 
of Jesus, was imposed upon the Christian church by 
an arbitrary priesthood, about the beginning of the 
fourth century. 

Mosheim, in speaking of the divisions which troubled 
the church in this century, says, "In the year 317, a 
contest arose in Egypt upon a subject of much higher 
importance, and its consequences were of a yet more 
pernicious nature. The subject of this warm contro- 
versy, which kindled such deplorable divisions through- 
out the Christian world, was the doctrine of three per- 
sons in the Godliead ; a doctrine which, in the three 
preceeding centuries, had happily escaped the vain 
curiosity of human researches, and been left undefined 
and undetermined by any particular set of ideas." * 

Here we see when it originated ; and from that day 
to this, the Trinitarians have disagreed among them- 
selves in their mode of denning it. This dogma has 
produced, among its advocates, the most bitter crimi- 
nations and recriminations; it has given rise to the 
wildest theological speculations, the strangest flights of 
conjecture, and the most unrelenting persecutions. 
What is the result ? No new truth has been elicited, 
nor a ray of light thrown upon the subject. Its advo- 
cates have been obliged to confess that it is an incom- 
prehensible mystery, behind which they have taken 
refuge. 

1 Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. ; p. 124. 



108 DISSERTATION ON THE 

If we are to judge by its fruits, the doctrine of the 
Trinity has been the most successful weapon that Anti- 
christ has ever employed to destroy the peace and 
harmony of the church. The animosity which its ad- 
vocates have manifested towards one another in con- 
sequence of their different opinions respecting it, and 
towards the opponents of the doctrine itself, has been 
of the most marked and malignant character. It 
would fill a volume to relate, in detail, the shocking 
manner in which they have persecuted, burned, 
butchered and massacred one another and their oppo- 
nents. What else could be expected from a dogma 
that created such a diversity of opinion on its first 
introduction into the Christian church, that, during 
the twenty-five years that immediately followed the 
Council of Nice, as many different councils had been 
assembled, and no less than eighteen creeds had been 
offered as explanations or substitutes for the Nicene 
theory of the Trinity. 

The little amount of true religion concerned in 
their elaboration may be estimated from what Gregory, 
bishop of Nazianzen, has said on the subject, who flou- 
rished about thirty years after the Council of Nice. 
"If I must say the truth," says Gregory (Jones, Hist. 
Christ. Church, 180), "it is my resolution to avoid all 
councils of bishops, for I have not seen any good end 
answered by any synod whatever; for their love of 
contention, and their lust of -power, are too great even 
for words to express." x 

It was during this time, and in connection with this 
subject, that Hilary, Bishop of Poictiers, made the 

1 McCulloh. Credibility of the Scriptures, vol. ii. p. 307. 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 109 

following remarks : " It is a thing equally deplorable 
and dangerous, that there are as many creeds as 
opinions among men, as many doctrines as inclinations, 
and as many sources of blasphemy as there are faults 
among us, because we make creeds arbitrarily, and 
explain them as arbitrarily. The partial or total resern- 
blance of the Father and of the Son, is a subject of dis- 
pute for these unhappy times. Every year, nay, every 
moon, we make new creeds to describe invisible myste- 
ries. We repent of what we have done, we defend 
those who repent, we anathematize those whom we 
defended. "We condemn either the doctrine of others 
in ourselves, or our own in that of others, and recipro- 
cally tearing one another to pieces we have been the 
cause of each other's ruin." * It seems to be the pecu- 
liar character of this dogma, to fill the mind with 
sectarian bitterness. Even in our own time, Unitarians 
are denounced as the worst of unbelievers, and ranked 
with Infidels and Atheists. The British and Foreign 
Bible Society have had a serious dispute on the admis- 
sibility of anti-trinitarians to the privilege of member- 
ship. The Edinburg Bible Society, while it consists of 
all other Protestants who are disposed to aid in the 
circulation of the Scriptures, whether saints or sinners, 
refuses the aid of men eminent for their piety, merely 
because they do not subscribe to the doctrine of the 
Trinity. 

In this enumeration of dogmas which have distracted 
the Christian church, injured its ministry and retarded 
the work of practical righteousness among men, we 
also include a vicarious atonement, transuhstantiation, 

1 Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap. xxi. 



110 DISSERTATION ON THE 

purgatory, and, in short, every doctrine pretending to 
a divine origin, but resting on human tradition, and 
received upon faith only and not on reason. 

Mystery must be driven from the domain of religion, 
or there can be no limit to imposture, or no dogma 
too absurd to be without its defenders. A rational and 
intelligent faith, capable of being demonstrated with 
the same clearness as any proposition of Euclid, is the 
only faith required of a Christian, and the only remedy 
against the encroachments of superstition and delusion. 

A late convocation at Rome, has issued a decree, 
requiring the Catholic Church to receive as an article 
of religious belief, a new dogma not hitherto embraced 
in the creed. As this is perhaps the greatest exhibition 
of theological folly that has occurred in the nineteenth 
century, and is likely to attract considerable attention, 
we give some of the particulars attending its announce- 
ment, taken from a letter, dated Rome, Dec. 11th, 1854. 

" The immaculate conception of the Virgin is now a 
fixed fact — a settled dogma of faith in the Roman Cath- 
olic Church. It was magisterially proclaimed in the midst 
of the celebration of the fete of the Conception, in St. Pe- 
ters on the 8th inst., by the authentic voice of the Su- 
preme Pontiff. The circumstances were imposing. Over 
two hundred full-robed ecclesiastical dignitaries, inclu- 
ding sixty Cardinals, and one hundred and forty Arch- 
bishops and Bishops, representing every part of the 
world, besides innumerable lesser office-bearers of the 
Church, assisted in the ceremonies of the eminent 
occasion. Perhaps so remarkable an assembly has not 
been convoked in the Metropolitan Cathedral before 
since the commencement of the century." 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. Ill 

The necessary ceremonies having been concluded, 
the following petition was presented to the Pope. 

" That which for a long time, Most Holy Father, 
has been ardently desired, and with full voice de- 
manded by the Catholic Church, viz. : the definite 
decision by your supreme and infallible judgment of 
the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin 
Mary, Mother of God, for augmenting her praise, her 
glory, and her veneration, we, in the name of the 
sacred College of Cardinals, of the Bishops of the 
Catholic world, and of all the faithful, humbly and 
urgently pray that in this solemnity of the Most Holy 
Virgin, may be accomplished the common desire. For 
which end, in the midst of this august sacrifice — in this 
temple sacred to the Prince of the Apostles, and in 
this solemn assembly of the most ample Senate of 
Bishops and people, deign, Most Holy Father, to 
raise your apostolic voice and pronounce the dogmatic 
decree of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, by 
which there will be joy in heaven and great rejoicing 
on earth." 

" The Pope responded that he willingly received the 
petition, but added that it was necessary to invoke the 
aid of the Holy Spirit in order to answer it. The Veni, 
Creator was then chanted by the choir and the whole 
assembly, after which the Sovereign Pontiff read aloud, 
but with a tremulous voice, in Latin, the following 

"decree. 

" It is a dogma of faith, that the Most Blessed Virgin 
in the first instant of her conception, by the singular 
privilege and grace of God, in virtue of the merits of 



112 DISSERTATION ON THE 

Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved 
exempt from all touch of original sin." 

" The pronunciation of the decree," says the writer, 
" was instantly announced to the world without by the 
cannon of the Castle of St. Angelo, when all the bells 
of Rome forthwith commenced a joyful chime, and 
the inhabitants displayed their various colored satin 
and damask ensigns from the windows and balconies 
of the city." 

If the days of compulsory belief — fire and fagot, 
were not happily ended, we might expect to see this 
dogma, which was attended by the firing of cannon at 
its birth, imposed upon the Church by a mode of argu- 
ment not new to priestcraft — the mouth of the cannon and 
the sword. We do not object to the doctrine that Mary 
" was preserved exempt from all touch of original sm," 
because we hold this to be true of every rational being 
born into the world ; but the opinion that it was by 
any "singular privilege," or through any peculiar 
miraculous agency, we regard as a theological fiction. 
The object of this decree apparently is, to strengthen 
the false ideas that prevail respecting the Divinity of 
the person of Jesus. We consider this act of the 
Roman Church as an attempt to prop up a decaying 
system of superstition and mystery. Protestants may 
join them in this effort if they choose, but truth and 
reason will eventually undermine the tottering founda- 
tions of this temple of Antichrist, dispel a false theol- 
ogy which only 

u Leads to bewilder, and dazzles to blind f 

and restore Christianity to its original purity and 
practice, loving God and loving man. 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 113 

Most of the objections that are urged by Protestants 
against the reception of the dogmas of the Catholic 
Church will apply with equal force to other opinions, 
which have been incorporated into the creeds of Pro- 
testant Christians with no better authority, and are yet 
regarded as orthodox doctrine : opinions, which rest 
entirely upon human testimony, and are equally absurd 
and improbable. If it be contrary to reason and 
common sense, to believe that the bread and wine used 
in the Eucharist are actually the real body and blood 
of Christ, as the doctrine of tran substantiation asserts, 
because it is contrary to the testimony of our senses, and 
implies that a part of Christ's body is equal to the 
whole, &c. (see Buck's Theological Diet.), it is equally 
as absurd and impossible to believe that the person of 
Jesus was any part of the Divinity. The bread and 
wine are composed of material elements, so was the 
body of Jesus of Nazareth ; and hence the same objec- 
tions which prevent a rational belief in one apply with 
equal force to the other. Nor are the premises altered 
by insisting that both are mysteries, which cannot be 
comprehended. " God is a spirit." John iv. 24. " That 
which is born of the flesh, is flesh ; and that which is 
born of the spirit is spirit." John 3-6. The flesh 
cannot be anything but flesh — the spirit cannot be 
any thing but spirit ; and so the bread and wine cannot 
be any thing but bread and wine. 

Again : does it require a greater sacrifice of the un- 
derstanding to believe the "Immaculate Conception" 
of the Virgin Mary, than to believe the miraculous 
conception of Jesus of Nazareth ? or is it more absurd 
to call Mary the Mother of God, than to say, accord- 
ing to the trinitarian hypothesis, that the child Jesus, 
8 



114 DISSERTATION ON THE 

which was born of her after the flesh, was God as well 
as man ? 

All these dogmas hang upon the slender thread of 
human credulity, which one day is destined to be 
broken, when the human mind, breaking through the 
trammels of tradition, becomes further awakened to a 
knowledge of its high endowments and privileges, by 
the unalterable law of spiritual progress. 

Is it any marvel that the Christian ministry has 
never succeeded in making such unintelligible dogmas 
plain to common sense ? Do we wonder that in their 
defence, it has lost its original character for promoting 
harmony and love, and been converted into an instru- 
ment of discord and party strife ? That men should 
entertain different opinions on theological subjects, 
which are not based on some self-evident truth, is con- 
sistent with our ideas of the various degrees of expe- 
rience and the partially developed faculties of the 
human mind. We think the fullest liberty of private 
judgment, compatible with the rights of others, should 
be freely tolerated among Christians without creating 
discord. To insist that others are bound to believe 
doctrines, which we acknowledge to be beyond our own 
comprehension, or ability to expound, is to ask what 
the Church never was divinely authorized to demand 
of her members ; every attempt to do it has disturbed 
her harmony, and can only tend to disunity among 
brethren. 

We wish, therefore, to see the Christian ministry 
disentangled from the senseless jargon of scholastic 
theology and engaged in its proper work. It is time 
it had ceased to defend mysteries as a part of the 
Christian religion. We have shown in a previous 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 115 

chapter "that their introduction into the Christian 
church after the time of the apostles, was for the pur- 
pose of accommodating Christianity to the taste of 
the heathen, whose religion consisted in a multitude 
of mysteries of which nobody knew the meaning. 
Since then, mystery has been a powerful engine of 
priestcraft to keep mankind in darkness and ignorance, 
that it might more easily rule over them. 

Christianity is a religion of plain, practical and tan- 
gible truth : it is a religion which God has revealed 
(i. e. made self-evident) to man — not a system of mys- 
terious and unknown things, which cannot be compre- 
hended by His intelligent and accountable creatures. 
That its sublime realities are gradually unfolded to the 
obedient soul, is a truth, as fully confirmed by human 
experience as by Scripture testimony. The eminent 
Paul said : " We know in part, and we prophesy in 
part; but when that which is perfect is come, that 
which is in part will be done away. When I was a 
child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I 
thought as a child ; but when I became a man, I put 
away childish things." 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10, 11. So true 
it is, when men come to realize the idea that God is 
their teacher, and eternity the term of their tuition, 
human traditions and abstract dogmas of faith fail to 
satisfy their spiritual aspirations after truth, knowledge 
and virtue, and they become willing to leave the things 
that are behind, that they may realize more and more 
in its fulness, the joys of that kingdom, of the increase 
and peace of which, " There shall be no end." Isa. ix. 7. 
It is not the dogmas of the church, but the spiritual 
wants of mankind, that are inviting the Christian 
ministry into a field of labor, always " white unto the 



116 DISSERTATION ON THE 

harvest." We say then, let the Christian minister en- 
gage in his high calling, under a full conviction that it 
becomes his duty to declare with fidelity, the " whole 
counsel of God." Let him direct the attention of others 
to the word, " nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy 
heart," as the apostle defined it ; and when this word 
is preached, thousands will now, as they did formerly, 
leave all and follow it : for we believe there are many 
who are ever ready to embrace the truth, when it is 
presented to them as it was in Jesus. 

There are many who are contending with the pre- 
judices of education — whose souls are longing for 
brighter and loftier things than are to be found in 
ceremonial religion, and the narrow creeds which have 
bound their spirits — whose eyes are covered with the 
scales of tradition, and who need some faithful Ananias 
to meet them " in the street called straight," and say 
to them, " Brother Saul, receive thy sight." There are 
many like the prodigal, who have taken a good spiritual 
inheritance and wasted it in riotous living ; who feel 
exiled from the society of the good — conscience-smitten 
and forsaken ; who, by a long career of transgression 
have come to a state of want. To these the gospel 
messenger can go with the words of consolation, in the 
Father's house there is bread enough and to spare — 
return, and perish not with hunger. There are many, 
like the poor man in the parable, who on his journey 
from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among thieves, who 
wounded him and left him half dead, but whom the 
priest and the Levite still pass unnoticed. Go thou to 
him, good Samaritan, on thy Christian mission — not 
to preach unintelligible dogmas, for this will not heal 
his wounds ; but to pour in the oil and the wine of 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 117 

human kindness and compassion, and make him feel 
thou art his brother. Go to the outcasts of society — 
touch them as Jesus did the leper, for they may be 
cured of their leprosy. Go to the bondman, the down- 
trodden and the oppressed — not with the Bible argu- 
ment that the curse of Canaan has entailed upon him 
the condition of hopeless servitude, but to proclaim the 
true idea of a common brotherhood, a common destiny, 
and a common Father. Go to the widow and the 
fatherless, and comfort them in their afflictions. Go 
to the child — not with a system of Sunday-school 
training to make him feel that he was born in sin, 
destitute of God's image, and that he has nothing but 
an evil nature — not to fetter his immortal spirit with 
a creed, or teach him that the mysterious dogmas of 
the church are the stepping-stones to heaven — but with 
the more rational and congenial message of the beloved 
of God, " Suffer little children to come unto me, and 
forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." 

In the language of an ancient apostle, we say now, 
"Preach the Word; do the work of an evangelist; 
make full proof of thy ministry ;" and for thy reward, 
look not to man ; for, with the fulfilment of every 
duty, some recording angel will make this inscription 
on the Book of Life, " Inasmuch as ye did it unto one 
of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." 

Then will the Christian ministry accomplish its 
peaceful work. It will warn the transgressor of the 
error of his ways ; hold up godliness as the test of a 
religious life ; encourage others to imitate the example 
of Jesus in meekness, self-denial, and good works. 

Engaging only to promote the work of practical 
Christianity, it will calm the turbulent sea of sectarian 



118 DISSERTATION ON THE 

controversy — hush the strife of tongues; charity, 
then, will take the place of bigotry; harmony and 
unity will dissipate the sound of discord; and the 
church militant on earth will exhibit a nearer resem- 
blance to its prototype in heaven. 



CONCLUSION. 

These views and suggestions may be new to many 
into whose hands tbis essay may fall. We only ask 
for them a candid examination. It is an age of 
inquiry : and we rejoice to see, in the spirit of the 
times, an element of future progress, in the increasing 
disposition to examine all questions of religious doc- 
trine and practice with a rigid criticism — with honesty 
of purpose, and an earnest thirst after truth. 

We believe that the whole fabric of Christianity 
rests upon the revelation of truth to the soul — the 
authority for its ministry, in a call of individual dut}~ 
to declare that truth to others. No form of ordina- 
tion — no appointment of men — no reliance upon hu- 
man learning — and least of all, no order of succession, 
can make a minister of Christ. 

The spirit of truth, instructing the minds of the 
faithful, has, in all ages, been sufficient authority for 
those who have felt themselves called to the work, to 
testify to others concerning the goodness and mercy 
of God, and the revelations of his will. As these have 
been faithful to their calling, at different times, and 
among all the families of the earth, the truth has not 
been without its living advocates ; advances have been 
made by successive reformations, and the standard of 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 119 

righteousness exalted among men. A ministry with 
this authority, speaks in words of soberness "the 
whole counsel of God." It seeks not the praise, while 
it lives above the fear, of man. It declares the truth, 
as it is unfolded, with childlike simplicity — not in an 
unknown tongue, nor in the mysterious and obscure 
language of former years : it relies upon a revelation 
now as original — as divine in its character as any that 
has been given to preceding ages. It views progression 
in spiritual things as an element of immortality, and 
sees, in the visions of light, that the revelations of the 
future may eclipse the revelations of the past, and 
increase the number of that " cloud of witnesses" which 
have already asserted the Beneficence of God and the 
capacity of man. It maintains that the treasury of 
divine truth and knowledge is inexhaustible, and that 
so long as the church lasts, the ministry which God 
designs for her edification will continue to bring forth 
out of it things " new and old." 

Passion and prejudice, bigotry and superstition, have 
all been arrayed in opposition to a ministry like this. 
Yet it has been " the light of the world." Ecclesias- 
tical rule has attempted to shackle it — but it has burst 
the bars of sect — broken down the barrier of creeds — 
triumphed against the force of popular opinion — 
breathed the free air of heaven — and stood in the 
freedom wherewith Christ maketh his children free. 

It has been the uncompromising champion of civil 
and religious liberty — proclaimed that God is the only 
Lord of conscience — encouraged freedom of thought, 
and declared that all men should be allowed to wor- 
ship the Creator agreeably to their best convictions of 
truth. Such a ministry is not the oracle of a sectarian 



120 DISSERTATION, ETC. 

theology. Its love is not confined within the bounds 
of sects. It recognizes in all human beings the 
divine impress ; sympathises with suffering humanity 
wherever it may be found ; rejoices in the elevation 
and progress of the race ; and, above all, it is clothed 
with charity in its zeal to promote, by example or by 
precept, that Holy Keligion, which was, and is, and 
ever will be, ushered in with the song of angels, 
" Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good 
will to men." 



THE END. 



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DISSERTATION, 



HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL, 



ON THE 



CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 



BY 



JOHN JACKSON 



PHILADELPHIA: 
T. ELLWOOD CHAPMAN, 

No. 1 SOUTH FIFTH STREET. 
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